The Fallen Guardians
by Wellsy71
Summary: Based two years after "The Fallen Knight and The Ice Queen." Love and Betrayal go hand in hand with each other. What will happen when former allies become the new enemy? Contains swearing, some adult situations and violence. Pairings same as before.
1. Former Allies

A/N: The first chapter of the sequel to _The Fallen Knight and The Ice Queen_. If you have read it, then you will be able to follow along with this story easily as most of the unanswered questions will be answered in this one as it is set two years later. If you haven't read it, then you will find it difficult and I would recommend you to go back and read it, but it's your choice. Well then, enjoy it and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square. But any OC's that I add and the plot are of my own creation.

**

* * *

****Chapter One: Former Allies**

In a cave in unknown location, there were mysterious creatures that were gathering. Deep within the secluded tunnel sat a dark prince, awaiting for his comrades to come back.

'Hmph, how long does it take to wander the globe,' he thought as he sat in his throne, his dark wings unfolded and blended in with the darkness.

The only thing that was visible on him was the blood red skin that he possessed, the symbol of pure evil. And just as he grew impatient, the stress was suddenly relieved.

"About time, Ifrit," the dark prince said. "What took you so long?"

The mass size of Ifrit showed himself. The flames that surrounded his body lit up the majority of the cave.

"Don't worry Diablos," Ifrit reassured. "Those petty humans aren't a threat to us."

Diablos thumped the armrest of the throne.

"A threat? They have already wiped out the Jumbo Cactaur!" Diablos retorted furiously. "They could be after us next!"

"Those humans don't even know where to look," the fire GF said. "Shiva and the other GF's are strong enough to hold them."

Diablos sat back and glared at his comrade.

"I hope we don't disappoint Ultimecia, we still need to avenge for her death."

Ifrit watched Diablos carefully and nodded.

"I know, but some of her still lives today…in that girl."

Diablos looked up and he bared his razor sharp teeth.

"It has been...two years since Edea Kramer transferred Ultimecia's power," Ifrit said darkly. "The power should be emerging soon."

Diablos laughed.

"Excellent, that's all we need," he said. "We just need to lure her and release our queen."

The two GF's continued to laugh evilly and their laughter echoed throughout the cave.

* * *

_...Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec_

'_Ahhh, fuck! That chant? What's happening to me?'_

_His head was about to explode as the creature inside his brain was trying to break through the binds of its prison, it was as if it wanted to be free like a bird. He gripped the sides of his head to force it not to split open. He looked over to his female comrade and saw that she wasn't faring much better, their minds were being split into two. _

_Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec_

_They both collapsed to their knees in absolute agony, lost nearly all strength as they tried to hold it all in. But it was all beginning to get to much as they form in front of the two humans. __Finally the monster within ripped out of its confines and along with the ice maiden, they were finally free…_

"Whoa!" Seifer Almasy jolted up in bed. But to his much needed relief, he was still in the room that he was hoping to wake up in.

He looked down to the heavily sleeping person next to him, her golden blonde crown of hair fanned across the pillow behind her as she was turned away from him. Seifer ran a hand through his hair and began to wonder.

'What time is it?' he thought and looked down at the alarm clock that digitally displayed the time. '0700 hrs, I think I'll just lay here.'

He laid back down onto his back and buried his face in his hands.

'Get a grip on yourself. That happened two years ago.'

In a matter of fact, even though it only had been two years previous, he still remembered that fateful battle with Ultimecia in Galbadia Garden. Quistis, Irvine and himself were nearly killed in the process. They were teenagers and they were staring death right in the face. Even though Seifer was 21, he felt as if he was in his forties. That was an indication of how much they all went through with Ultimecia and Time Compression.

Seifer looked over at her, back was still faced at him and she was moaning a little. This had him curious.

'I wonder what she's dreaming about.'

He rolled onto his side and scooted closer behind her. He noticed that her bare shoulders were exposed and couldn't resist as he bit at the bare flesh.

The young woman stirred and her sapphire blue eyes flicked open and she turned her head a little.

"What do you think you're doing?" Quistis Trepe asked him as he kept biting at her. He stopped so that she could fully roll onto her back.

"I want my Hynemas present," he said, smirking down upon her while his emerald green eyes glistened with lust. "And I'm not talking about materials either."

Quistis rolled her eyes.

"Hyne, we 'celebrated' your birthday last night. Can't it wait till later?" she asked and Seifer chuckled.

"Gee, I guess somebody isn't in the festive mood."

Quistis propped herself onto her elbows and lightly touch the side of his face.

"I'm sorry Seifer. Happy Hynemas."

She leaned forward and with such delicacy, as if she was going to break him and she pressed her lips to his. It was only brief until she pulled back.

"Is that better?"

Seifer smirked.

"Much better," he replied. "Now, I want an encore from last night."

Quistis giggled and kicked the covers off.

"No can do buster," she said and threw her robe on. "We have that meeting with Xu in a couple of hours and I would really like to have a shower and some breakfast."

Seifer groaned inwardly at the mention of Xu's name.

'Doesn't she know it's a crime to work on this particular day,' he thought. 'I'm gonna fucking kill her the next time she does it.'

He got up and he walked with Quistis to the bathroom door. She turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Seifer leaned up against the doorframe and undid the robe and slid it down her shoulders.

"How about we save some water if we're in such a rush," he suggested. "And don't you dare argue with me when you know that I'm right."

Quistis sighed and knew that she was defeated.

"Fine then, but it's a shower and nothing else," she warned and led him in. She turned on the water and stepped in. "You coming in or what?"

Seifer nodded and walked in behind her.

* * *

The clear blue sky was the only thing that was over her as she stood in the centre of her office, staring up at it as if it held the answers to all of life's mysteries. Xu smiled and thought that if Cid was alive that he would be doing that and not her.

'I wonder what he would be thinking of us right now,' the young headmistress thought and brushed a brunette lock out of her face. 'Probably laughing and smiling as per usual I reckon.'

She looked back down and saw a young man, of about 20, standing the corner and was only a black image on the marble wall. Xu smiled and chuckled at the man's expression.

"Really lieutenant, you could learn to smile a little bit more."

Squall Leonhart lifted his brunette head and looked at her with his steel blue eyes with a bored expression. He hated more than anything in the world to be called by that title, let alone being given that rank in the first place.

"Xu, don't ever call me that again," he said cautiously. "Besides, it's Hynemas and I would rather not be stuck in some inter-Garden meeting when I should be relaxing."

Xu laughed even harder.

"Well that certainly explains why Seifer and Quistis aren't here yet."

Squall looked back down at the ground.

'Maybe they had more sense to stay away,' he thought. 'But it isn't like them to be late for this. Perhaps Quistis had to drag Seifer's ass out of bed.'

The sound of the elevator rang throughout the third floor and the two SeeD's looked over to the twin wooden door with the same thought on their minds.

'That must be them now.'

Voices could be heard on the other side. One sounded extremely annoyed while the other was of a teasing nature. Both Xu and Squall sighed and listened to the conversation that stopped at the door.

"Why are you blamin' me for?" Seifer's voice was heard. "You started to respond back, so take some responsibility yourself."

An exasperated sigh was heard.

"Oh, and you of all people is giving me a lecture on taking responsibility, Mr. I-don't-give-a fucking-damn-about-responsibility," Quistis' voice came into perspective. "Maybe you should have taken your own advice three years ago and then maybe you would have passed back then."

Silence.

"Speechless, obviously I've hit a nerve."

"Forget it, let's see what Xu wants and then we'll continue 'celebrating' afterwards, deal?"

"Fine then, but you won't be getting anything for a while."

The doors opened and Quistis and Seifer walked in and stopped and saw Xu and Squall's expressions. Xu's eyes were widened and Squall had a quizzical look on his face.

Quistis sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry we're late. We had, other engagements to deal with before coming here, so we had to skip breakfast," she explained and looked up at Seifer with narrowed eyes and he placed his hands up.

"Whoa! It won't happen again, just drop it will ya?"

Xu slapped her forehead.

"I don't want to hear it. Let's just get this over and done with as it is obvious that we all have plans," she said and walked over to her desk.

The other three SeeD's walked over and sat down in the chairs in front as Xu took her place behind the desk.

"I want you three to know of the success of the termination of the GF Jumbo Cactaur," Xu said. "The SeeD team that was sent to search the desert south of Esthar were successful in locating it and tried negotiating it to realign with us, but to no avail."

"They had to eliminate it," Squall said. "So the location that Zell and Selphie gave was accurate?"

Xu nodded.

"Indeed. But I have this theory that the GF's have gone back to the spot that they were retrieved from."

"So that means, a GF like Ifrit would have gone back to the Fire Cavern?" Seifer inquired. "How do we know that this is accurate?"

Quistis straightened the fabric of the skirt of her SeeD uniform and crossed her legs.

"We might simply just have to put this theory to a test," she suggested. "I could take a team over there this afternoon if necessary."

Xu nodded.

"Agreed. But I only want high level SeeD's on this GF hunt, so I'm ordering for yourself, Irvine and Rinoa to go and check out the Fire Cavern."

Quistis nodded.

"I'll go and inform them. Is that all you wanted us up here for?"

"Yes, you are all dismissed."

The trio got up and saluted before filing out of the office.

* * *

A/N: I hope you liked that chapter, just trying to set up what's going to happen in the future. Keep reading on.


	2. An Old Haunt

A/N: I don't know if I have already told you all this, but this is a continuation of my previous story. So many of the unanswered questions will be answered in this one. Anyway, keep reading and I hope you will enjoy this and please review.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

* * *

**Chapter Two: An Old Haunt**

"Coffee, coffee, coffee!" The beaming voice of Selphie Tilmitt was heard throughout the usually crowded cafeteria. "Need more coffee!"

At a nearby table, her group of friends watched the scene that unfolded in front of them. Selphie had literally thrown many cadets over shoulder and scrambled her way to the front of the line.

Rinoa Heartily giggled in her usual girlish manner and turned to the two men that were sitting opposite her. They were trying to contain themselves, but to no avail.

"Irvine, you really need to calm her down before she rips this whole place in half," she said, trying to stop laughing. "I'm pretty sure that neither Seifer or Quistis want to compensate for missing cadets due to Selphie's coffee manic moments."

Irvine Kinneas sighed and gave the raven-haired woman a smile.

"Don't ya worry about her," the cowboy replied. "I know how to handle this, she hasn't changed and neither have we."

Indeed it was true, none of them have changed. Even though they were in their early twenties, they were still acting as if they were still teenagers, with the exception of Squall and Quistis. Selphie was still as hyper-active and jumpy as ever. Irvine was still his flirtatious self, despite threats from Selphie in relation to there would be a certain missing body part. Seifer was still playing jokes and taunting Zell in a juvenile manner, and Zell…he would just bite back as per usual or make up some snappy comeback. Then there was Rinoa, she still was like a princess with Squall as her knight. As for a certain ice queen, she had her king with her and was still working as hard as when she was an instructor. But having Seifer as a co-commander was stressful enough as she was always dumped with his work.

Zell Dincht groaned and patted his stomach as it yearned for food.

"Speaking of Quistis and Seifer, where are they?" he asked. "I'm starving here and they aren't here yet."

Rinoa rolled her eyes.

"For your information, they were in a meeting with Xu and Squall," she replied and pointed at the blonde. "And you are not eating yet. This is Hynemas and we should be eating lunch together."

"And that is why I hate meetings this early in the morning."

The trio at the table looked around and saw Quistis and Seifer walking together, and to no one's surprise Quistis was scolding Seifer. The three of them looked at each other and knew what they were arguing about.

"You are a commander of this Garden and you can't even take responsibility," Quistis scolded as they stopped at the table and looked at each other. "You're acting as if you're still a cadet."

Seifer sighed deeply and rolled his eyes.

"Hyne woman! Get the fuck over it, we didn't get into shit over it so just fucking drop it will ya?" Seifer retorted. "Never knew that you could be such a pushover about something this bloody pathetic."

Quistis' eyes narrowed.

"You pigheaded son of a bitch."

Irvine coughed and the couple both snapped their heads at him.

"What?" They asked in unison, in such a forceful manner.

Irvine cowered back a little and slumped back.

"Uh…nothing."

Seifer sighed and looked back at Quistis.

"Fine then, I'm sorry and it won't happen again."

Quistis sighed and looked up at him and shook her head.

"That's alright. You're already going to be punished enough this afternoon."

Her and Seifer sat down in the chairs next to Rinoa and Irvine smirked.

"Are you going to use your whip to teach him a lesson? Maybe I should have transferred here earlier and you could have taught me."

Seifer's jaw flexed.

"What the fuck was that cowboy?" he snarled.

Irvine raised his hands.

"Sorry man. But I must admit that she gives the students to look at when she's teaching."

Seifer could only agree with that statement. When Quistis was his instructor all he could do was fantasise and admire the beauty that was teaching from the front of the class.

He chuckled at this.

"That's true, I think that's the only reason why I never fell asleep during class."

Both Quistis and Rinoa shook their heads and just as Quistis was going to say something, Squall was approaching the table.

"Well you certainly took your time," Rinoa stated as Squall sat down in the vacant seat next to her. "Was there something wrong?"

Squall sighed and dropped his head.

"Xu just dumped me with more work this morning," he said and looked at his princess. "I guess that dinner is off tonight, sorry."

Seifer laughed and swung his arm around Quistis' shoulders.

"Looks like Squall here just lost a romantic evening, sucks to be you."

Quistis pried his arm off her and smirked at him.

"Well if you're going to have that attitude then while I'm out on my mission, you can handle all of my work as well as your own," she explained cautiously and Seifer's jaw dropped. "And then, instead of having that romantic evening that you have planned, you can run me a hot shower and clean up the dorm. It's like living in a pigs-sty."

Seifer's jaw flexed and everyone started to laugh.

"Looks like our old lapdog here has just been shut down," Zell said while holding his ribs. "She got ya there."

Two fierce orbs of flaming emerald pointed at the martial artist.

"Say that again chicken wuss."

"Enough!" Rinoa demanded and then looked over to Quistis. "Since when were you going away on a mission?"

The blonde brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Xu wants me to take a team over to the Fire Cavern and investigate the GF fiasco," she replied. "And while on the matter…" she looked over to Irvine and then back at Rinoa. "You and Irvine are to accompany me this evening."

Irvine and Rinoa looked at each other and then back at the blonde.

"Sure thin', I'd do anything for a pretty lady." Irvine said and then gave Selphie a wink. She blushed and the stood up.

"Do you want to unwrap your presents now?"

Irvine jumped up, nearly knocked the table over and Selphie started dragging him away.

"Gotta go. Call me later." He said and winked at everyone.

The two girls that remained sighed and shook their heads. Seifer and Zell laughed and Squall remained neutral, they knew what they were up to.

"Well then, I better go and see Lisa," Zell said and got up. "We're goin' into Balamb and see Ma. Catch ya."

He ran off and left the two couples alone. Seifer looked up at Squall and smirked.

"How 'bout it? Do ya want to do somethin' tonight while the ladies are out?"

Quistis nudged him in the ribs while Rinoa kicked him in the shin.

"We've already got plans for afterwards," Rinoa said. "Besides, you've already got your hands full."

Quistis laughed.

"And don't you think that you can get out of working tonight either. Because when I get back, I have things for you to do for me."

Seifer mentally swore and rolled his eyes.

'Fuckin' women. You just can't stay mad at them.'

* * *

This was not how the two men in a tiny office would have wanted to spend their holidays, doing work when they could have been having a romantic evening with their significant other. There was only one person to blame for that.

"I'm gonna fucking kill her the next time I see her," Seifer muttered and threw down his pen. "There should be a rule against working during the holidays."

Squall looked up and then back down.

"Well that's Xu for you," he said. "I guess we just have to do what she says."

He placed down his pen and stood up.

"I better go and organise everything before Rinoa gets back. You better finish your work before Quistis comes and finds you."

Seifer snorted.

"She wouldn't do anything."

Squall gave him a small smile.

"Make sure you lock up before you leave or otherwise Xu will probably raid our office."

The younger man grabbed his jacket and walked out and left Seifer to his thoughts. Seifer slumped back into his chair and heavily sighed and then laughed.

It was fun for him to share a tiny office with two other people, but also annoying and at one stage Squall walked in on Seifer and Quistis in a compromising position on Squall's desk. After that, it was very awkward to talk to one another for the rest of that day.

Seifer sat forward and picked up his pen and continued to fill out the forms that were laid out in front of him.

* * *

She hadn't been there for a while, it had been almost two years. Quistis looked around at the lava filled cave and remembered the time she was in there with Squall, the day of his field exam.

"Man, is it hot in here or what?" Irvine stated as his wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Quistis stopped walking and turned around.

"These were the conditions that we had to train in when we were cadets," she explained and crossed her arms. "But now the whole cave is considered to be unstable due to the rouge GF's. So I'm guessing that Xu wants us to check things out here to make sure things are safe."

"Ifrit used to live here, correct?" Rinoa asked.

Quistis nodded.

"This is where Squall acquired Ifrit two years ago. But because he, like all of the other GF's are not of their own mind, he may not have came back here."

Irvine walked ahead.

"Well then, let's hurry up before we melt to death."

The two girls followed him along the path over the lake of magma.

* * *

He could see it was night time and she still wasn't back, but then again he had lost all sense of time itself. Seifer had finished his work and was sitting in the dorm, shirtless and with an open bottle of spirits next to him, he had been drinking since he got back to the dorm.

'How long does it take to walk around the Fire Cavern?' his mind asked. 'It sure as hell doesn't take this long.'

_Knock…Knock…_

Seifer's head snapped up and he reluctantly got off the couch and wandered over to the door. Who could have been there at that time of night?

He opened the door and groaned inwardly at the person who was standing on the other side.

'Damn of all the people to show up here.'

"Are you going to let me in?" Xu asked as she stood there. "Or are you going to be a rude asshole?"

Seifer sighed and walked back in, Xu walked in and closed the door. He sat back down and poured himself a drink and then looked up at her.

"You want one?"

She shook her head.

"No, I only dropped by to see if you heard from Quistis at all."

Seifer shook his head.

"No, not since they left and that was about three hours ago, I think."

Xu nodded.

"Well hopefully they should be too long, they did take one of the Garden cars over there." She looked at the half-filled bottle. "You've been in here drinking?"

Seifer looked at her and nodded.

"This is only my fourth glass, I wouldn't drink half a bottle in a space of an hour," he replied, taking in a mouthful and spilled some of it.

Xu knew that he was intoxicated, if Quistis was there she wouldn't have been impressed by the sight. She had to get him to stop.

"Come on, let's get you to bed."

She walked over and helped the tall man up and helped him into the bedroom and got him to lay down on the bed. Seifer could feel his eyelids drooping, until he settled into a deep slumber.

Xu smiled at this sight as she continued to watch Seifer's normally hardened features soften and admired her best friend's choice in men.

'Only if I were that lucky,' she thought. 'Maybe one day I could be like her and have someone to wake up next to in the morning. He doesn't even know how lucky he is to have her.'

She turned off the light and walked out of the dorm.

* * *

The trio walked to the pool of magma and stopped. Quistis knew that there was something wrong, it was too quiet. She scanned around and saw nothing. They didn't even encounter any monsters when the cave was usually full of them.

"What's wrong Quis?" Irvine asked when he saw the confused expression on the face of his childhood friend.

Quistis stopped scanning and looked towards the magma pool.

"This is strange, monsters would usually be swamping this cave," she replied and then looked over to him. "Obviously something is wrong."

Rinoa walked over to the edge of the pool and knelt down and stared at the bubbling liquid, splashing around profusely.

"Is it meant to be bubbling like this?" she asked and Quistis looked over and slowly made her way over.

Quistis looked down at her raven-haired friend and then down at the pool of magma, it was bubbling violently as if it was about to erupt.

"No, it is usually calmer than this," she said quietly. "Let's move back."

Rinoa and Quistis began to step backwards and Irvine wondered what was going on.

"What's happening?"

The girls joined him and Quistis pulled out Save the Queen.

"I have a bad feeling that we may have some company," she said and cracked her whip. "We better get out of here."

Suddenly in one large explosion, magma flew into the air and three bombs popped out of the pool. They were closely followed by two Buels.

"Damn, where did they come from?" Irvine exclaimed and held up his rifle. "Time to blast them into oblivion."

He fired a couple of shots at the bombs, who then grew larger.

"What the?"

"Irvine!" Quistis called. "Don't shoot them, they will self-destruct on us if you do!" She turned back to the battle and held out her palm. "Blizzara."

The familiar icy sensation filled the veins of her left arm and she had hit the middle bomb. It fell onto the ground and Rinoa held her palm.

"Blizzaga."

The smaller one fell and the Buels charged at the trio.

"Dive!" Irvine called out and they dove onto the ground to miss their offence.

'Whew!' Irvine thought. 'That was a close one.'

They got off the ground and they turned around.

"Let's get out of here!"

They ran back down the path and Rinoa looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened at the sight, hundreds of monsters were flowing out of the magma pool.

"We can't out run them! They're gonna catch us!"

Quistis stopped running and knew what she had to do in that situation. Rinoa and Irvine stopped and looked at her, panicked.

"What are you doing Quistis?"

Quistis said nothing and held out her palm. Her magic had never failed her, and it never would.

"Degenerator."

The oncoming monsters were surrounded by a blue realm that separated them and the outside world. It was a silent kill and as the realm disappeared, the monsters were already sent into oblivion. Quistis dropped her hand and re-clipped her whip onto her belt. Irvine and Rinoa couldn't believe their eyes and walked over to the blonde.

They were both left speechless.

"Come on, let's go."

She continued to walk down the path until she heard Rinoa's high pitch scream. Quistis jumped around and saw a bright, fierce orb.

"A bomb?" she asked in no one in particular, her voice dropped off.

She was correct, but it was no ordinary bomb. It's heavy glow lit up the cave even more and it was glowing brighter and brighter…

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Irvine said and walked backwards with Rinoa.

"Run!" Quistis shouted and the trio took off in a full sprint.

The cave grew brighter and brighter and the exit was in full view. Quistis was mentally screaming, telling her legs to move faster.

A loud boom filled the cave and the whole place began to shake, the bomb had exploded. Rocks started to fall from the ceiling, the place was falling apart. They nearly were out of the cave and then they dove through the entrance as the fiery explosion echoed out and the entrance became sealed from the rubble.

The three of them sat up and looked at their near-death experience.

"Let's never do that again…" Irvine said, completely out of breath and collapsed onto his back.

* * *

Quistis walked into the dorm and closed it behind her. She let out a heavy sigh of relief and made her way to the bedroom. The only thing she wanted was to sleep.

She walked in and leaned up against the doorframe at the sight in front of her. Seifer was face down, fast asleep and dressed only in his black pants and he didn't even move when she walked in. His muscular back was moving up and down with his breathing.

It always made her happy to see him like that, it was as if he was at peace with the world, even though two years beforehand people wanted him dead. Now, everything had changed and Seifer had transformed from the Garden's resident asshole into one of its most respected mercenaries. Quistis knew that she alone didn't have a complete impact on him, but that he wanted to change. It was only a single night of them being both vulnerable to make that change. Not just his change, but also hers.

'I think I'll shower first and then I'll go and get some sleep.'

She grabbed a singlet and a pair of gray sweatpants and walked into the bathroom.

* * *

A/N: I hope you liked the chapter. I should be updating soon.


	3. A Complete Nightmare

A/N: It's been a while since I've updated, but I have been busy with exams and study. But there should be more updates over the next couple of months. I hope you all have enjoyed this story so far, because I enjoy writing it. Well then here is the next chapter, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

* * *

**Chapter Three: A Complete Nightmare**

The elevator rose to the third floor and opened. Quistis walked out in her SeeD uniform and confidently strode out, a black folder swung naturally by her side. She walked to the hard wooden doors and pushed them open.

Xu was sitting behind her desk, typing away at her computer. She heard the door to her office creak open and she looked up and saw her friend. She stood up and acknowledged her.

"Hi Quistis, when did you get back last night?"

The commander walked to the desk and placed down the folder and stepped back, lowering herself into a chair.

"I'm guessing around about midnight," Quistis replied and crossed her legs. "Everything that happened should be in that folder."

Xu laughed at her friends to-the-point attitude and sat back down and then reached over and grabbed the folder and opened it. It revealed six pages of forms and a report.

"So did you find him?"

Quistis raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

Xu looked up.

"Ifrit."

Quistis shook her head.

"No, unfortunately he hasn't returned there," the blonde explained. "But monsters have taken over the magma pool and then attacked us."

The headmistress looked back down at the folder and continued to scan it thoroughly.

"You did mention that in here, you guys must have been lucky to escape alive."

Quistis nodded.

"Yes, the monsters were on the offence and then using Blue Magic I was able to eliminate the majority of the population. But then…a giant bomb appeared."

Xu's eyes widened.

"A giant bomb?" she asked and the blonde nodded to confirm. "How in Hyne did they get so big?"

"I don't know. Obviously Ultimecia's effect on this present world has not only affected the GF's," Quistis said and then looked at Xu directly in the eyes. "But also on the monsters."

Xu slapped her forehead and then looked down.

"Hyne dammit, things are just turning into a complete nightmare," she cursed under her breath, then looked back up. "Speaking of nightmares, have you been having any lately?"

Quistis sighed. She, like everyone, had been having nightmares due to the GF's no longer being connected to their minds and all of the unpleasant thoughts that were once blocked by the GF had began to come rushing back to them in their dreams. But they tended to happen irregularly, and when they came it usually came on strong and affect her to the near point of insanity.

"Only one or two within the past month, I think they must be stopping soon."

Xu nodded.

"Ok, just wanted to check up on everyone. Is there anything else you want to add?"

Quistis shook her head.

"You are dismissed."

Quistis stood up and walked out of the office. She wasn't looking forward to the afternoon.

* * *

"How much did ya drink last night?" Zell asked as Seifer laid across the bench in the Quad, the gang were standing around him.

Seifer rolled onto his back.

"I can't remember," he said groggily. "A few I think."

He held the sides of his head.

"Bloody hangover, when will it go away?"

Seifer rolled back onto his side and then everyone else looked towards the entrance of the Quad and saw a certain blonde walking over.

"What's going on over here?" she asked and then fixed her eyes on the person on the bench, her eyes widened when she saw her co-commander on sprawled across the bench.

Quistis sighed and placed a hand on her hip. She remembered the last this had happened and cadets had reported this to Xu, she wasn't too impressed that Seifer, and her, got into that situation. That morning was nothing but a boxing match...

_"It's ok to drink," Xu said to Seifer up in her office. "But do NOT show yourself out into the Garden population in that sort of condition, ever! What if the cadets started to drink themselves stupid and then show up to their classes?" _

_Seifer held his head with one palm._

_"Then they shouldn't look, should they?" he spat back. "And I was planning to stay in the dorm, but Quistis wanted me to come up here and get some stuff for her 'cause apparently I'm the better condition out of the two of us."_

_Xu narrowed her eyes._

_"Oh and you decided to take a stop at the fountain and throw up into it? That really is setting an example, is it?" _

_"Enough!" Quistis demanded in her instructor's tone and then looked at the two of them who were looking up at her. "Both of you. I specifically told Seifer to come up here and grab some work for me, but only if he was up to it. Obviously he wasn't and should have stayed in the dorm, it could have waited until tomorrow when we're both better." _

_Xu sighed and then sat back down into her chair._

_"Fine, that seems to be a reasonable explanation," Xu replied. "Now I want the two of you to stay in your dorm until you have sobered up, I can see that the two of you can barely hold yourselves up."_

_Quistis was leaned up against the wall and Seifer was leaning on his elbows._

_"You two are dismissed."  
_

Quistis shook her head and gave another sigh.

'Now I know why I limit myself,' she thought. 'I would never want to get myself into that situation again.'

Rinoa laughed.

"Looks like that Seifer here has a hangover."

Squall shook his head.

"Rinoa, this isn't funny. What if cadets walk in here and see an officer in this sort of condition?"

"Whoa buddy! Lighten up 'ere!" Irvine said. "He was just havin' some fun like the rest of us."

Quistis sighed and knelt down beside Seifer.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Seifer rolled onto his back and propped himself onto his elbows.

"What'd ya think? You've had a hangover before, you should know."

Indeed she would. The year before at the New Years party that Selphie had organised, Quistis and Seifer drunk too much. They went back to their room to make love and then the next morning they had no recollection of the night before. All Quistis could remember of that experience was waking up naked next to Seifer with a pounding headache and the sensation of bile in her mouth.

She closed her eyes at the memory and sighed.

"Yes and that is why I learned a little thing called self-control."

Seifer groaned and rolled back.

"I would do anything to make this go away…"

Just as he was falling asleep Selphie's cheery voice boomed from behind the group.

"Come on everyone! Time to set up for the party!"

Seifer jolted up.

"I think I need to go an…"

He quickly got off the bench and to the nearest plant and emptied out his stomach contents. Everyone, except for Squall and Quistis, laughed. All Quistis could do was to bury her face in her hands.

"I'm just glad that Xu isn't down here to see this," she said under her breath, loud enough so that Squall could hear it.

"I couldn't imagine what she would have done," he said. "I think we better help him out."

Quistis looked up and nodded and the two of them walked over.

* * *

The sun was setting over the Quad and six weary mercenaries were busy around the stage area. Irvine and Zell were up on ladders, both men had abandoned shirts due to the heat of the sun on their backs. Squall and Seifer were continually moving around heavy boxes of decorations for the three girls on the stage to sort through.

And where was Selphie?

"Hey! I don't want any slackin' off here!" she called out through the megaphone that Irvine gave her for her birthday. Her attention turned to Squall and Seifer. "You two, hurry up with those boxes!"

The two men groaned and looked at each other in the eyes.

"I think I'd prefer my hangover instead of this headache," Seifer muttered.

Squall gave him a small grin.

"I think I'll have to agree with you there."

The two men then carried over the last of the boxes and then collapsed onto their knees. Seifer reached up and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"I'm never drinking again."

A familiar laugh was heard and Seifer looked up at the stage and saw that the laugh came from Quistis.

"What's so funny?"

Quistis jumped down from the stage and stood over him.

"It's your own fault for getting drunk," she said. "So you will just have to suffer for it."

Seifer groaned and sat back.

"Okay everyone!" Selphie called out and everyone looked over to her. "That will do for today. Go and get some rest!"

Seifer and Squall got up and dusted themselves off. Zell rushed over to the trio.

"Let's get out of here before she changes her mind," he suggested. "Lisa and I are thinking of goin' into Balamb if you want to join us."

Seifer and Quistis shook their heads.

"Nah, I think I need to sleep," Seifer said and held the sides of his pounding head.

"Same here, I have classes in the morning."

Zell scratched the back of his head.

"That's a shame. Catch ya later then."

Zell ran off in the direction of where Lisa was waiting for him. They walked away together hand in hand.

"I think we better follow suit," Seifer said and Squall looked over at him.

"Good idea."

Seifer, Quistis and Squall began to walk away from the stage just as Rinoa walked to them.

"I suppose we're escaping."

They kept on walking and Rinoa walked up to Squall's side.

Quistis laughed.

"We're leaving Irvine to deal with Selphie. I hope he will be alright."

"At least we don't share the same room as her," Seifer said and gave a small laugh. "I'd bet it would be entertaining to watch whatever goes on in there."

Everyone stopped and glared at him.

"What? It would be, especially with those two."

They shook their heads, Squall sighed with disbelief.

"Whatever. Let's just go."

The four of them started walking again and Rinoa looked over her shoulder back at the stage.

"I think Irvine is hiding in the bushes nearby."

Seifer chuckled.

"Maybe he should stay in there to avoid any unfortunate accidents."

After that they remained silent and quickly walked out of the Quad.

* * *

_She opened her eyes. Blue orbs scanned around the darkness, searching for anything familiar, but nothing came._

"_Hello…anyone here?" she asked in no particular direction._

_The presence of something familiar was settled in her hand when she had tightened her grip. It was as if she was shaking the hand of an old friend. She looked down and saw the dangerous coil in her gloved hand…Save the Queen._

'_Where am I?' Quistis thought and looked around even more. _

"_What is this place?" she whispered to herself. _

_Fithos…Lusec…Wecos…Vinosec…_

_Her head snapped around at the chant._

'_Huh?'_

_Fithos…Lusec…Wecos…Vinosec…_

_Quistis' head snapped around again._

"_That chant…I've heard it before." _

_The chant continued and grew louder, and closer. Quistis didn't know where it was coming from._

_Then she heard a familiar voice, in her head._

'…_mediocre instructor…'_

_She closed her eyes at the sight of a white flash and when she opened them, she didn't expect to be in that place. _

'_My classroom?'_

_Quistis looked over to the door and saw three men in suits and they were followed by Cid. Her eyes widened at this sight._

'_Headmaster Cid?' _

_Then it had hit her. She was viewing her own memories._

_Quistis looked over to the front row of desks and saw herself there. She was in her SeeD uniform, leaned up against the desk and then stood up to salute the men. She would had only been 18._

"_On time as usual Instructor Trepe," Cid said. "We won't keep you here for too long." _

_The past Quistis nodded slowly and all the present one could do is to watch the scene unfold. One of the men held out a sheet of paper and the young instructor took it, her eyes scanned over it._

_Suddenly the sheet of paper dropped to the floor and her head was bowed._

"_How…how did you find out?" _

_One of the executives stepped forward._

"_I'm sorry, but the board and Headmaster Cid had decided that in conjunction with Seifer Almasy's failure to pass the field exam, due to a lack of leadership skills on your behalf," he explained. "That having a relationship of an inappropriate nature with a student is not tolerated within this Garden. So we hereby strip you of your instructor's licence effective of midnight and you will officially resume your role as a SeeD with the restriction of not being able to reapply for the licence for two years." _

_Past-Quistis fell to her knees and the four men waked out of the classroom. Quistis felt helpless as she watched her failings unravel._

'…_failed instructor…' the voice taunted. '…no leadership qualities…'_

_Quistis gripped the sides of her head. She just wanted out, she had enough._

"_Get out of my head!" she screamed._

_The voice laughed._

'_Remember your childhood…'_

_Another white flash and Quistis opened her eyes. She looked around and she was inside a bedroom of some sorts. White curtains, wooden floorboards and stuffed toys on a white metal bed. _

_She knew where she was._

'_My foster home?'_

_Her focus remained on the bed. A young girl with blonde hair was sitting on the end of the bed, visibly shaken. Quistis knew that she was crying. _

_It was her that was crying. She watched on at her ten year old form and felt the tears building in her own eyes. _

"_Honey," a woman's voice was heard from outside. "Tell me what he had done to you." _

_The little girl shook her head._

"_No! He might come and do it again!" _

_Quistis brought her hand to her mouth. She didn't want to watch that memory, especially if it had been hidden for eleven years. _

'_Stop it!' she screamed inside her head. 'Please, no more!'_

…_Fithos…Lusec…Wecos…Vinosec… _

_The chant continued and Quistis collapsed to her knees, the whip dropped out of her grip. She gripped the sides of her head and began to cry._

"_No! Stop!" _

_Then, the voice became familiar…_

'_Kurse all SeeD's…slaves for all of eternity…"_

_Quistis looked up. _

"_Stop it! No more!" _

'…_come with me to a place of no return…'_

"_NO!"_

* * *

Quistis sat up in cold sweat, perspiring heavily with a look of fear on her face. She looked around for anything familiar and realised that she was in her dorm and then looked down beside her and sighed.

'At least he's a heavy sleeper,' she thought with a sad smile.

She pulled off the covers and buried her face in her hands, trying to understand what just occurred.

'What's wrong with me? Why am I still having these nightmares?'

The moon shone through the window and Quistis looked out and decided to grab her robe and walked over to it. She threw the robe on and leaned up against the window frame and stared out at the great white ball in the night sky.

'I wonder if anyone else is having nightmares,' she thought. 'We did lose our GF's and now we have to suffer for it.'

She heard Seifer stir and he groaned.

He opened his eyes and saw her at the window. Seifer propped himself up onto his elbows and stared at her.

"What are you doing up?" he asked and rubbed his eye.

She didn't turn to look at him, but kept on looking out the window.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied, knowing that she couldn't tell him the exact truth. "So I thought I'd just look out the window for a while."

Seifer threw the covers off and got up to walk up behind her. He knew what was going on.

"You're having nightmares again, aren't you?" he asked softly into her ear.

She nodded slowly and Seifer sighed.

"Why didn't you say so before?"

Quistis turned around and looked down at the ground.

"I just didn't. I'm just…"

Seifer tried to gaze into her eyes.

"You're what? Scared?"

Quistis looked up at him and their eyes connected. She shook her head and pushed her way past him and flicked the lights on for the bathroom. She leaned forward onto the sink and looked up into the mirror. There were faint lines on her face, that showed that she was crying.

'I thought those memories of my childhood wouldn't hurt me…I couldn't even go back to that girl and talk about it.'

She bowed her head back down and closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

"Quistis…are you ok?" Seifer asked from close behind her.

Quistis turned around and fell into his arms and latched onto him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest.

"…Just hold me, and never let me go," she said quietly and buried her face into his chest. Seifer felt his eyes water and buried himself into her hair.

"I promise," he whispered and the two of them continued to hold each other in the middle of that tiny bathroom.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Keep reading.


	4. A New Chapter

A/N: Finally another chapter. The song used later in this chapter during the party is 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion. Just imagine the song being played on piano or if you have the piano version and you can fit the words in then that will be even better, play it when it says "she began to softly press down the keys." Well then, enjoy the chapter.

Warnings: There will be LEMON towards the end of chapter. You don't have to read it, but the aftermath will link directly to what will occur in the next chapter so I suggest that you read that part.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square. The song used in this is also not mine.

* * *

**Chapter Four: A Brand New Chapter**

The wind was growing fierce, the waves were hitting the beach at a more frequent rate. A young family were on the beach for an family day out nearby the township of Balamb as it was distant figure. The mother and father were on the sand, watching their young children play innocently.

The man smiled widely and continued to hold his wife as they glared out into the bright blue ocean.

"I never thought that we would have this kind of peace again," he said. "I like it."

The woman laughed at her husband's remark.

"Well we have mercenaries to thank. They were the one's to make it all possible," she explained before slamming her hat back down onto her head. "I wish the same could be said about this wind."

She sat forward and called out to the kids.

"Ok kids, you better come in! The wind is starting to pick up!"

The little boy and girl looked up and ran over to their parents.

"But mummy, you promised that we would stay here all day," the brown-haired little boy of about five begged to his mother.

"We can't now, or otherwise we will be blown away."

"Daddy, what's that?" the red-haired girl asked and the man looked out to where his daughter was pointing.

A large figure was growing even larger, rapidly. He narrowed his eyes to try and interpret it. It wasn't stopping and was picking up speed and the landscape became blurred.

"What the? What is th…ahhhh!"

"Honey, what's…ahhh!"

The family vanished with the final gust of the wind. The only thing that was left was the mass purple thing that was standing there. The creature let out one last gust of air and its faceless being looked around, until it finally landed its attention to its target.

'Time to avenge our mistress,' it thought. 'They won't be expecting this.'

* * *

"Party!" A booming voice screamed down the corridor. "Party time everybody!"

She was running down past the dorms, with two males following her. Zell and Irvine were those poor guys who had the job on controlling the situation, by the instruction of one very moody headmistress.

"Dammit, why did you have to give her coffee? That is the worst fuckin' thing that you could do!" Zell scolded the cowboy. "Did you even think about the consequences?"

"No but…" Irvine replied and he had to dodge a female cadet and then ran up to catch the martial artist. "…she seemed to be completely out of it this morning so I thought that it would do her some good."

Zell grunted.

"Hyne, don't you realise what you've done? She's gonna be like this all frickin' day!"

Irvine laughed and slowed down to a walk. Zell noticed that he was now longer beside him and looked back and saw Irvine laughing and instantly thought that he had lost his mind.

"Why did ya stop for?"

Irvine pointed past him and Zell looked over his shoulder. Three familiar people stood there, and in front of them was Selphie. She was sitting on the ground and Zell gave a short laugh.

'About time she was stopped,' he thought in great relief. 'Looks like they have control of the situation now.'

The two men walked closer and saw Xu, Squall and Rinoa looking down at her with unimpressed expressions on their faces. The three of them came out of nearby dorms to stop her, obvious by the fact that they were still in their sleeping gear.

"What in Hyne's name do you think you're doing?" Xu scolded. "It is way too early to start shouting down the dormitory corridor, everyone is trying to sleep in."

Selphie opened her mouth to answer back, but Xu obviously wasn't in the mood to hear her excuses. She desperately needed some sleep after the busy week she had.

"It's the damn weekend and I would really like to get back to bed."

Xu turned on her heel and stormed back down the corridor, down towards the SeeD single dormitories. Squall and Rinoa looked back down at her.

"Maybe we should go back too, and get Selphie away from this door," Squall suggested and the others gave him a quizzical look.

"Why?" Irvine asked and then Squall pointed at the dormitory number of the dorm.

Everyone's eyes, except for Selphie, widened as this was the one place they didn't want to be at that hour. Because behind that door would lie a giant with temperment as big as his height and a certain ice queen who is reknowned to having a short fuse in the morning.

"Shit! Let's get outta here!" Zell said in a hushed whisper and everybody except for Selphie ran off down the corridor.

"Fuck! Who is making all this noise?"

Selphie finally got the message and got up and took off in the same direction as the others, just as the door opened and revealed one extremely annoyed blonde.

He looked up and down the corridor and saw no one in sight. He cursed under his breath and bowed his head.

"Who was it Seifer?" Quistis' voice called out from the bedroom.

Seifer stepped back and the door closed.

"Dunno, they took off before I came out," he said and made his way towards the bedroom. "But I suspect it was that perky little friend of yours."

He entered and leaned up against the doorframe and saw her lying down on her back with a pillow over her face.

"There's no point on going back to sleep, is there?"

Seifer chuckled.

"I guess not, not with her loose in Garden. Since when did you ever favour sleeping in? I thought that all of you nerds craved the early mornings."

Quistis sat up and threw the pillow at him and narrowed her eyes.

"Hyne, you're such an asshole sometimes."

Quistis got up and walked over to the wardrobe to get out her SeeD uniform. She grabbed Seifer's as well and she threw over to him. He raised an eyebrow after he caught the garment and held it out in front of him.

"Why the hell do I need to wear this?"

The instructor turned to him and placed her hands on her hips.

"I thought you said that your uniform was too small, so I thought that you would like to take it back and get a larger one."

She resumed to get dressed and Seifer chucked the uniform onto the bed and then knelt down onto the floor and began to pick up the discarded bits of his usual attire. He began to think back to the uniform, in which he only wore it about three times within the past two years because it was too small when he first got it.

Seifer stood up and threw on his jeans and just as he was buckling his belt, Quistis was finishing clipping up her hair and pressed down her uniform. His eyes instantly diverted to her legs, at the ridiculously short skirt that came with the SeeD uniform.

'I must admire Cid's taste in uniform,' he thought. 'But maybe in a way it could be considered inappropriate if a cadet starts to perve.'

"Do you want to take a picture?" Quistis asked when noticed Seifer looking at her legs. "Or do you want to hurry up so that we can get breakfast before we have to help out at the ballroom?"

Seifer's emerald gaze snapped up and he closed the gap between them in one massive step. He reached out and held her by the waist.

"Nah, why would I do that when I can have the real thing right here?" he asked softly and gently pressed his lips to hers. It was only brief before Quistis pulled back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well then," she said in a soft tone. "You will have to wait until tonight before you have your way with me."

She reached up and gave him a peck before pulling herself out of Seifer's grip.

"I will meet you down at the cafeteria, don't be late," she said that time in her instructor's voice and then turned around and walked out of the dorm.

* * *

'Oh shit, oh shit,' Zell thought as he ran around the ballroom frantically. 'She's gonna kill me.'

His thoughts were soon stopped as he bumped into a very distinct black figure. Squall turned around and raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

'What's going on now?' he thought and placed a hand on his hip.

"Squall!"

Zell jumped up and scanned around like when he usually had his hot dog manic moments.

"Selphie's gonna kill me!"

Squall sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

"What have you done now Zell?"

Over Squall's shoulder Zell could see Rinoa walking over to them. This was the next worst thing to Selphie walking over, especially when Rinoa would tell Selphie in the first place.

"Zell, Selphie's looking all over for you," Rinoa said and stood beside Squall. "Maybe you should go find her before she finds you."

Zell swallowed and his eyes widened even further. She knew that there was something wrong.

"Zell, what's going on?"

The martial artist reached into his pocket and pulled out a black microphone that had been snapped into half, and then into his other pocket to pull out a broken CD.

Rinoa gasped.

"How did you manage that?"

"I don't know exactly," he replied, panicking. "I was riding the T-board and suddenly I crashed and then the next thing I knew was…"

"You rode your T-board in Garden?"

Zell stiffened at the icy cold voice of his former instructor. He was sure as hell didn't want her see what had happened. Quistis approached the trio and her eyes widened at the objects in Zell's hand.

"Oh my, we needed those for tonight," she managed to say. "Have you told Selphie?"

Zell shook his head.

"No and I don't plan to. I don't really want to be murdered at this present moment."

Quistis placed her hands on her hip and kept her gaze fixed on the young man.

"And what do suggest we do. People aren't going to dance to the air, we need music."

"Well we do have some back-up mics," Squall mentioned and looked over to Rinoa, who then gave him a quizzical look. "And a piano."

Rinoa shook her head.

"No way. Just because my mother was a singer and played piano doesn't mean that I can," she replied quickly. "I hate being up on stage ever since I was little."

Squall sighed.

"C'mon Rinoa! We need you to!" Zell pleaded.

Rinoa laughed and then pointed over to Quistis, who closed her eyes.

'Don't tell me that she is suggesting…'

"What about Quistis?" Rinoa suggested and both Squall and Zell looked at her. "She can play, she was really good at that concert at Fisherman's when Squall got promoted."

"Yeah! And I've heard her sing before!"

Quistis stared at them wide-eyed.

"I can't sing! And I only had to play piano that night because Selphie wouldn't stop going on about it."

Squall cleared his throat.

"Actually Quistis, I have walked past your classroom numerous times over the past two years and I heard you sing."

Quistis' eyes widened and she knew instantly that she was defeated. Indeed it was true, she had sung to herself in that empty classroom as she was marking exams. Quistis thought that no one would be around to hear her and to realise her singing talents, so she would pick a tune from the CD collections that Xu had given her and would start singing it to put herself at ease as she worked. The only problem that she found was that she began to enjoy it and no longer was aware that people may be listening. Plus the fact that she could play the piano didn't help her either, now she was starting to regret that night at Fisherman's Horizon. Quistis actually told everyone to keep it quiet or risk having Save the Queen wrapped around their necks.

Rinoa pointed a finger at her.

"Well then that settles it. You're the main entertainment for tonight," she said and turned back to Zell. "Go and find some other means of entertainment to fill in the rest of the time."

Zell nodded and took off and Quistis slapped her forehead.

'How in Hyne's name do I get myself into these situations,' she thought. 'Why did I even play that damned piano for that bloody concert?'

She looked up and looked at the couple in front of her. She sure as hell didn't want Seifer know about it just yet, until that night.

"Do not tell Seifer of this or I swear it will be the last thing you'll ever do."

She stormed off and Rinoa looked up at Squall.

"Do you think we were too pushy?"

Squall sighed.

"I don't know, she wasn't too thrilled of the idea."

Rinoa giggled and the two of the got back to their work.

* * *

The ballroom was packed later that night. This was the one time of the year in which everyone could actually relax and forget about wars, exams, classes and basically just to enjoy themselves. Happy couples, draped in colours just like the rainbow were dancing to the music by a band that was playing up on the stage, all thanks to Zell's convincing.

In the middle of the dance floor, Quistis and Seifer were dancing happily with each other. He looked down at the goddess in his arms.

She wore a strapless deep red dress that reached down to her ankles and had a slit on one side that went all the way up to her hip. She also had her hair down and had let it hang naturally down her bare back.

Seifer smiled and then reached down to her ear.

"You know that I just want to tear that damned thing off you right now," he whispered into her ear.

Quistis turned her head slightly until her red lips brushed against his ear.

"You know that I could say the same about you, but I like you in that uniform."

Seifer cursed mentally. Both he and Squall were the only male SeeD's in uniform and Seifer was actually feeling like a complete tool.

'Dammit, next time Leonhart is on his own.'

Quistis pulled away and then felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned her head and saw Rinoa and Squall.

"Sorry Seifer, but we need to borrow Quistis for a moment," Rinoa said with a smile.

Seifer instantly let go and backed away.

"Have her, I'm done dancing."

Rinoa grabbed the taller woman's wrist and dragged her off the dance floor.

* * *

Zell went up to the stage and Selphie was looking up at him, wondering what he was doing.

"What the hell is he doing?" she asked.

Irvine chuckled.

"Looks like he's covering his ass for somethin'."

Meanwhile backstage, the young raven haired woman in a familiar white dress held out a microphone to Quistis.

"You'll be fine Quistis," Rinoa reassured. "I promise that after this we won't ask you to do this ever again."

Quistis sighed and took the microphone off her.

"I swear to fucking Hyne that I'm going to murder you the next time it happens."

She took a deep breath and faced the stage.

'I hope this song is going to be alright.'

Zell cleared his throat and leaned toward the microphone.

"Hello…hello everyone," he said nervously. "I'm glad that you are all havin' a blast, but now here is the main entertainment for tonight."

Selphie leaned forward a little.

"What is he playin' at?"

Zell's blue eyes met the green one's of Selphie's and then he swallowed.

"Anyway, here is the musical debut of our favourite commander."

The crowd remained silent as Quistis emerged from backstage and everyone gasped. Somewhere nearby, Seifer watched as Quistis made her way to the piano.

"What the fuck is she doing?" he asked to no one in particular.

Quistis sat herself down at the white grand piano and placed the microphone into the stand that hovered above it. She glanced down nervously at the black and white keys and began to flex her fingers.

Then in an almost natural manner, she began to softly press down the keys, the note flowing out of the piano and everyone's jaws slackened. Their beloved instructor was playing the piano. But they were in shock for what was to occur next as Quistis leaned toward the microphone and opened her mouth.

_Every night in my dreams  
I see you, I feel you  
That is how I know you go on _

Everyone was in shock. They all knew that she had a soft, beautiful voice, but they weren't expecting that she would have a natural singing voice.

_Far across the distance_  
_And spaces between us_  
_You have come to show you go on_

_Near, far, wherever you are  
I believe that the heart does go on  
Once more you open the door  
And you're here in my heart  
And my heart will go on and on _

Seifer was immediately mesmorised by her, in absolute awe. He felt as if she was singing for his benefit alone. He knew why she was singing this particular song, she was singing it for him.

_Love can touch us one time  
And last for a lifetime  
And never let go till we're gone _

All around him, couples started to dance slowly to the atmosphere that was created by that soft, smooth voice along with the smooth melodic notes of the piano. Seifer didn't notice them, instead he kept on letting Quistis captivate him. He had on occasion in the past before the war had heard her hum whenever he walked past the classroom when he was on patrol. But he wasn't expecting this, see her sing up on that stage and the notes gracefully leaving her fingers.

_Love was when I loved you_  
_One true time I hold to_  
_In my life we'll always go on_

_Near, far, wherever you are  
I believe that the heart does go on  
Once more you open the door  
And you're here in my heart  
And my heart will go on and on _

Quistis continued to play and then she turned her head out towards the crowd and saw that Seifer's eyes were squarely fixed on her. She smiled and then turned back towards the microphone. She had specifically picked the song for him, wanting to express herself.

_You're here, there's nothing I fear  
And I know that my heart will go on  
We'll stay forever this way  
You are safe in my heart  
And my heart will go on and on _

She played a few notes to finish the song. She remained stationary and closed her eyes.

'I'm glad that's over…huh?'

Quistis looked up and out towards everyone, they were applauding her. Selphie, Irvine, Zell and Lisa were all cheering loudly, Squall and Rinoa smiled, Xu was in complete shock. But her attention was turned to Seifer, who looked like he was speechless.

Actually he was speechless as he was lost for words.

The emerald green clad figure of Selphie ran up onto the stage with Irvine just as Quistis got up and walked off.

"Well then that was the night's main entertainment, now it is time for the countdown into the New Year!" Selphie shouted into the microphone. "Five!"

Quistis was walking towards Seifer, through the mass crowd towards the centre of the ballroom.

"Four! Three!"

They met each other right underneath the glass ceiling and Seifer looked down at her.

"When were you planning on telling me that you could sing?"

"Two!"

Quistis chuckled.

"I guess that it slipped my mind and that I haven't really thought about it."

"One! Happy New Year!"

In a sudden boom, the night sky was flashing with colour. The ballroom erupted into a cheer and many people embraced one another. Selphie and Irvine on the stage, Squall and Rinoa nearby and Zell and Lisa were nowhere to be found.

The couple in the middle of the ballroom looked at each other as blue met green and they smiled at one another.

"Happy New Year," Quistis said.

"Same to you."

Seifer cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers and they embraced directly underneath the sea of colour. They pulled away and Seifer gave Quistis his trademark smirk. He took her hand and motioned his head.

"Come on, I know where we can go," he said and then led her through the mass crowd and out of the ballroom.

* * *

The door to the classroom slid open and the two blondes stumbled in, locked in a fierce and wild embrace. The door closed behind them and Seifer pinned Quistis to the wall. She reached out and pressed the button to lock the door.

They broke the kiss and looked up at each other, lust filled their eyes.

"You just have to ruin the fun, don't you?"

Quistis giggled.

"Well I don't really want us to get caught," she replied and began to undo Seifer's shirt. She undid it and it dropped onto the floor behind him.

Seifer leaned back down and started kissing and biting at her bare shoulders, managing to gain a moan out Quistis as she scratched her nails down Seifer's bare back. He reached around to the zipper of her dress and yanked it down and it dropped on the floor to form a red circle on the floor as if it was a target.

The heat was building up even through it was cold in there. Quistis had her legs wrapped around Seifer's waist and then he held her by her buttocks and carried her to the desk at the front, where she worked. Seifer sat Quistis down onto the desk and walked in between her knees, teeth and tongue at her throat and Quistis could feel his arousal pressing up against her with great urgency.

Seifer moved up and gently kissed her lips before pulling back and looked into her eyes.

"You know that this has been a fantasy of mine for years," he said with a smirk. "To have you here on this desk."

Quistis smiled and reached down and fumbled for his belt.

"Oh really? It looks like your dream is going to come true."

Seifer chuckled and then pulled off his boots with his feet and his pants fell to the ground since Quistis had already undone them beforehand. Quistis reached around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss as his hands reached for her chest. Quistis moaned as he rolled her little peaks between his fingers before massaging the mounds that were on her chest. He groaned in rhythm with her moans and then continued on with even more urgency.

His arousal was begging for some release and Quistis gave it to him as she yanked down his black boxers and Seifer reached down to pull her black panties off. Seifer pushed Quistis further back on the desk and positioned himself.

Seifer's hand was down near her wet heat and he teased a particular spot, making her gasp and wanting him even more than she did at that point in time. Seifer then felt with his fingertip that she was ready for him. With a moan from the both of them, he entered her and began to move in a gentle rhythm. Quistis pulled his head down and kissed him gently on the lips, on his collarbone and on his sweaty chest as she began to move in sync with Seifer, gliding along the wooden top of the desk. Quistis dug her nails into his shoulders and moaned Seifer's name as she felt the waves go through her and she began to rise higher and higher with every thrust that he made.

Moans and groans filled the room and this had led to Seifer picking up the pace and grunted out her name, in which the moans and groans grew louder and louder as the two of them were heading towards their climax. Seifer bowed his head down and took her bottom lip between his teeth before the tension became too much and the cord suddenly snapped as they cried out for each other and Seifer released himself into her. Both Seifer and Quistis had hit it pretty hard as they had lost all awareness of their surroundings for a brief moment.

He collapsed onto her chest, their sweat covered bodies remained completely stationary and they were breathing fairly hard as were coming down. Quistis closed her eyes and gently massaged his muscular back and shoulders.

"Was this…was this how you had imagined it?" Quistis asked after a while.

Seifer chuckled.

"Yeah, exactly how imagined it." He replied and closed his eyes. "I don't want move, I want us to stay like this."

Quistis giggled.

"You know that classes have to use this room."

"Well then, they can watch."

Quistis playfully slapped him on the arm.

"Don't be so rude. And don't think that this will happen all the time either."

The lights in the room suddenly went out, the room was pitch black and they couldn't see a thing.

"Hey, the power just went out," Quistis said. "But there are no storms around."

Seifer looked up.

"What the hell has happened?"

Quistis then realised.

"That means if the power is out, then…the doors are unlocked."

Seifer mentally slapped himself.

"Fuck! And there isn't a damned light in this room to find our clothes…"

"Shhh! I think I hear people coming…"

Voices were heard coming down the corridor, the voices belonging to those that they hoped that wouldn't catch them in that compromising position.

Quistis closed her eyes.

"Oh no…"

"I think they're in here!"

The door opened and people with torches came in and they were astonished by the naked pair on the desk. Seifer buried his head back down and cursed under his breath.

"Quistis! Seifer!" Selphie called out. "What have you been doing?"

Irvine chuckled.

"Looks like we missed the action."

Selphie popped Irvine in the knee cap.

"Well thank Hyne it wasn't Squall or Xu that caught them," she said and Seifer and Quistis got up and covered themselves with their hands and arms.

"What is it?" Quistis asked.

"We have a serious problem! Monsters have raided Garden from the plains and the Training Centre!"

"What about the power shortage?" Seifer asked.

"Dunno, but you better dress and get your weapons!" Irvine suggested and together they found the discarded clothing and Seifer and Quistis started to get dressed.

* * *

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed. Next chapter: The monster hunt.


	5. Monster Hunt

A/N: Plenty of fighting in this chapter. The creature in the start of the last chapter will finally reveal itself and this will blend in with the main idea of this story. For those who are following along with this story, I hope you are enjoying it and I encoruage you to continue reading as I believe it will only get better.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.**

* * *

****Chapter Five: Monster Hunt**

At the Front Gate, Squall and Zell were trying to fend off the incoming monsters coming from the surrounding plains. The SeeD forces were holding them off, but only barely as the fatality toll began to increase.

"Fuck!" Zell swore as he punched a T-Rexuar to death. "How come there are so many? Why are they doin' this?"

Squall swung his Lionheart gunblade at another T-Rexuar and the blue blade came back to his side.

"I don't know," he said and swung the sword back behind him again, ready for the offensive. "But I hope that Selphie and Irvine come back here soon with Quistis and Seifer."

A sudden boom filled the air, a gunshot and the bullet flew past Zell's ear and hit an incoming Geezard. The two men turned around and saw four people running towards them. Irvine, Selphie, Seifer and Quistis had their weapons out and ready for battle and Irvine raised Exeter up again and fired another shot out of the barrel.

They stopped in front of them and Zell shot his arm out to the side.

"Where in hell have you four been?"

Seifer swung Hyperion and saluted in front of his face.

"Just getting warmed up," he replied cockily. "Don't wanna pull a muscle now, do we?"

Irvine and Selphie gave each other a look as they had witnessed what Seifer was referring to. Quistis just sighed and cracked her whip to get them back on task as she knew where Seifer was heading with it.

"So, what's the situation here?"

Squall looked across to her and Seifer.

"The monsters have flooded throughout Garden via the Front Gate and the Training Centre," Squall explained. "But those are the only two locations known."

He spun around and sliced a bite bug in half.

"And what's the status on the other facilities?" Seifer asked and shot a fireball out of his hand at a random monster.

"Don't know, but we need to split up," Squall suggested.

Selphie jumped up and down.

"Well I don't want those…things getting to my stage, so I'm gonna protect the Quad!"

Irvine flicked the brim of his hat.

"Wherever Sefie goes, I go."

Quistis turned around and nodded.

"Well split into three parties," she said. "Irvine and Selphie can handle the west wing as they want to go to the Quad. Go and find Xu first and let her know what's going on."

They nodded and she turned her attention to Squall and Zell.

"Squall, where's Rinoa?"

Squall placed a hand on his hip and stared directly at her.

"She's helping Kadowaki in the Infirmary. She thought she would be of better use in there."

Quistis looked to Zell.

"I want you and Zell to stay here and lead the defence. Don't retreat until you receive orders to do so."

Squall nodded.

"Seifer and I will head to the Training Centre and lead the offence. Let's move out."

Squall and Zell turned back around and continued fighting as the other four ran back up into Garden.

* * *

"Everyone!" Xu hollered through the microphone. "Hold your positions!"

The doors flew open. Selphie and Irvine rushed in and saw the young headmistress screaming into the microphone.

"Make sure all areas are covered! And if you see the commanders, tell them to get their asses to my office on the double!"

The two SeeD's ran up to the desk.

"Xu, we have some updates for you," Selphie said.

Xu snapped around.

"This better be good, we're in the middle of a Hyne damned battle."

Selphie cleared her throat.

"The monsters have broken through the Front Gate, but the squad led by Squall and Zell are just barely holding them off."

Xu crossed her arms.

"What about the Training Centre?"

Irvine shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't know, Seifer and Quistis are checkin' it out right now."

Xu nodded.

"Fine, but we need to guard the Quad too. Who knows what can get in through there." She looked to Selphie. "I want you and Irvine to go down and defend the Quad, as well as setting up a blockade along the west side of the main hall. Understood?"

They both saluted.

"Yes ma'am." Irvine and Selphie said in unison and they turned around and ran out of the office. Xu turned around and sighed deeply.

'Of all the things to start off the New Year,' she thought bitterly. 'Why did it have to be this?'

* * *

Meanwhile, Seifer and Quistis were at the entrance of the Training Centre. Their eyes were peering over the fallen SeeD's that had tried to keep the rouge monsters inside. Seifer knelt down and examined the wound of the SeeD who was leaned up against the wall.

He stood back up and turned to Quistis.

"I hope you have Sleep junctioned," he said. "I have a hunch that the majority of the population will be T-Rexuars."

Quistis nodded.

"Just by looking at these injuries, I think you might be right," she replied and uncoiled her whip. "And I think if we have any chance of surviving that we better hurry and get in there."

Seifer nodded and the duo ran into the rainforest.

They ran through the twin metal doors and the humid air was making it harder for them to breathe. The commanders pushed hard through the circular track, the noise of T-Rexuars filled the atmosphere and it grew louder and louder.

Quistis stopped running and saw that they were near the entrance to the Secret Area. Seifer noticed that she had stopped, so he did and looked back.

"What's the matter?" he asked and walked over to her. "Why did ya stop?"

Quistis hushed him quiet and scanned around.

"They're just around the corner. We should wait for them to emerge."

Heavy footsteps crept closer to them, one foot after another to impending doom. Suddenly the mass size of not one, or two…but three T-Rexuars emerged from out of the bushes and Seifer and Quistis stood back to back as the massive dinosaurs circled around them in a triangle.

"Just like training, huh?" Seifer asked and held Hyperion out horizontally.

"Not exactly, we only train with one at a time."

Seifer grunted.

"Fuck training, this is the real deal now. Show us what ya got ya fuckin' cowards!"

With a roar, the three T-Rexuars charged at them.

* * *

"Rinoa!" Kadowaki called out as she attended a wounded cadet. "How are you holding up?"

Rinoa used another one of her sorceress spells at one of the invaders and looked over her shoulder at the doctor.

"Fine for now!" she called back and looked back out. "But I don't think I'll be able to hold on much longer!"

Kadowaki looked down and sighed. She knew that if Rinoa failed that the infirmary and at least half of Garden were doomed for oblivion. She began to pray and hope that the others can defeat whatever was causing the problem so that the possibly of that wouldn't happen.

'I hope that they are quick about it,' she thought and turned her attention back to the wounded cadet lying on the floor in a pool of blood. 'Rinoa might be right about the little amount of time we have left.'

* * *

The loud gunshots of Irvine filled the atmosphere as another enemy collapsed to join its fallen comrades. He raised his gun and shot another as Selphie swung her Strange Vision to take down a Geezard.

"Booya!" she yelled excitedly. "That's another one that bites the dust!"

Irvine chuckled and raised Exeter up and aimed.

"It ain't over until it's over. I just pray that Seifer and Quistis find whatever is causin' all this commotion."

Selphie stopped and looked at him.

"What'd ya mean?"

Irvine fired a shot and looked down at her.

"I have the hunch that they'd be encountering the culprit."

Selphie's eyes widened.

"Then we need to go and inform Squall and Zell at the Front Gate! Seifer and Quistis might be in danger and need our help."

"Whoa!' Ya serious?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure that they…"

"There's no time for excuses Irvy! We need to warn them!"

Irvine reluctantly gave up, knowing that he couldn't argue with her. He nodded and the two of them ran through the battlefield, towards the main hall.

* * *

With a massive roar, the T-Rexuar swung its arm with nothing but sheer force. A crimson spray went into the air and was shortly followed by a loud curse.

"Fuck!" Seifer swore, gripping his right shoulder and his grip on Hyperion loosened slightly.

Quistis spun around and saw her injured partner.

"Seifer!" she called out. "Get out of the way!"

Quistis closed her eyes and concentrated on the atmosphere around her. The familiar energy built within her and then in an instant she opened her eyes, narrowed at the T-Rexaur.

"Laser Eye…"

Two beams of raw energy flew out of Quistis' eyes and they both hit squarely into the chest of the massive creature. It went stiff and fell onto the ground, onto its side and Quistis had let out a sigh of relief at the fact there was nothing but three dead T-Rexaurs around them, on the ground.

She looked back over to Seifer, who was slouched over and the crimson red blood was oozing out from in between his fingers. Quistis rushed over to him and dropped her whip beside her feet.

"Here, give me your arm," she offered and with reluctance, Seifer gave her his limb, painfully.

Quistis moved the hand that was covering the wound and she began to closely examine the gash. She held a palm out, hovering over the injury and closed her eyes.

'I hope this works, it looks nasty.'

"Cura." Quistis whispered and the cool sensation of the spell filled her veins and poured itself like a waterfall onto Seifer. He cringed at the coolness and closed his eyes, letting it heal the wound and he could actually feel the skin joining back to together.

Seifer sighed and opened his eyes, he saw that Quistis was staring up at him, smiling despite the situation that they were in.

'Why is she smiling?' he asked himself and raised an eyebrow.

Quistis started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" he asked her.

She stared up at him.

"Nothing, it looked like it hurt."

"Like a bitch," he said with a smirk.

Quistis rolled her eyes.

"Well I know for a fact that you're one person that never shows pain," she said. "It must be my presence."

She laughed even harder and Seifer groaned.

"Ha, ha. What fucking ever, let's just finish what we came here to do…"

Suddenly there was a massive gust of wind. Seifer placed his arms around Quistis as she bent over to pick up her whip. They were blinded by the flying dust, they couldn't see what was happening.

"What the fuck is going on?" Seifer asked, even though he already knew the answer. "Where is this wind coming from?"

The wind slowed down and the two of them opened their eyes, slowly, as the wind disappeared. Quistis looked around, there was nothing there and she was just as confused as Seifer was.

"What happened?" she asked softly and tightened her hand around Save the Queen even more.

Seifer saw her grip tighten and he too did the same and held out Hyperion in a defensive stance.

"I don't think we're out of the woods yet."

Quistis nodded and the two of them continued to guard. There was an unusual noise that roared through the atmosphere, but there was nothing there. Well at least within their visual range as they weren't prepared for what was to happen next.

Quistis looked up and pointed at the dark figure that hovered above them. The dimmed lighting of the Training Centre wasn't helping them in determining what it was and it started to descend.

"Seifer! Up there!"

He too looked up and saw what she was referring to. Its descent revealed more of its form until it landed onto the ground with a loud thump. Its large, faceless, purple being stood in front of them like a statue.

Seifer had no clue in who it was, but to Quistis it was like meeting up with an old friend once again.

"…Pandemona," Quistis said softly, in awe of the giant GF that was before them like some kind of king. "What do you want?"

No answer from the GF, as it had no mouth to speak. Seifer looked at her and then back up at the creature.

"It cannot speak," he stated. "We need to kill it right now."

Quistis shook her head and looked back up at the wayward GF.

"Hello, just give me a sign that says that you can co-operate with us. Who is your master?"

The creature chuckled inwardly as it could produce no sound.

'Impudent humans, who do they think we are?'

Air started to be sucked into Pandemona, ready for an attack. Seifer and Quistis braced themselves, digging their heels into the earth so that they wouldn't be drawn into their enemy. Then in one sudden moment, the air expelled out of Pandemona and at the two humans that stood in front of it.

The attack was too much for them to handle and they flew back. The wind was fierce enough that their own screams couldn't be heard as they sped through the air and towards the nearby bushes. Quistis opened her eyes and in a desperate measure, she flung her whip out in hopes of catching one of the tree branches.

The whip straightened out and Quistis just hanged in mid-air. She was trying to hold on with both hands, relying on the sharp barbs of her trusty weapon to grip onto the soft wood of the branch. A few moments had passed and the wind eased down. Quistis hung there vertically and then she used the whip like a rope started climbing up. She reached the top of the line and threw herself up onto the branch, unhooking Save the Queen.

'That was a close one,' she thought and looked down. 'I better find a way down, I don't think I want to jump from up here.'

She eventually made her way down the tree, before something else clicked into her mind.

'Where's Seifer?'

Indeed, where was he? He certainly had nothing like Quistis had so that he could grip onto something. She began to fear the worst.

Her sapphire blue eyes scanned the forest until she saw a darkened heap on the ground, lying lifeless.

"Seifer!" she called out and rushed over. She knelt down and saw that it indeed was him. "Wake up!"

"Quisty!"

Quistis looked up and saw Selphie and Zell running over to her and an unconscious Seifer. They dropped to their knees as well and looked down at Seifer, wide-eyed.

"What happened?" Selphie asked.

All Quistis could do was point at the mark that Seifer left in the tree. He was injured and he needed medical attention, quickly.

"Where's Squall and Irvine?" she managed to ask after a moment.

Zell pointed in the direction that they came from.

"We were approaching just as the two of you flew backwards," he replied. "Then Squall told us to come after ya while he and Irvine handled Pandemona."

Quistis nodded and stood up.

"I think I better go help them, you two can get Seifer to the infirmary."

"But Quisty…" Selphie tried to rebut, but there wasn't any time.

"Dammit Selphie, this is an order from your commander! Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Selphie and Zell both looked at each other and nodded. Zell rolled Seifer over and lifted the larger man over his shoulders.

"You can count on us!" Zell exclaimed and took off.

"Good luck!" Selphie said and ran off after Zell. Quistis drew her whip out and ran off in the direction that Zell pointed to earlier.

_

* * *

__BANG!...BANG!...Click…Click_

'Huh?'

…_Click…_

'Not again.'

Irvine pulled the trigger again. Nothing. They were in serious trouble. They had the winning edge as Irvine was blasting shots of Pulse Ammo at Pandemona, weakening it. But he had run out, and that wasn't their only problem as he was also out of normal ammo.

"Hyne fuckin' dammit!" Irvine cursed loudly, something that he rarely did. "I have nothin' left!"

Squall pointed Lionheart at the GF and pulled the trigger. A ray of powerful energy unleashed itself out of the tip of the blade and hit Pandemona square in the chest. He dropped the sword down by his side, he knew that this was a losing battle.

"I can't do that again," he said. "I'm all out of pulse ammo as well. And I can't go in and strike without it weakened any further."

Irvine sighed and knelt down onto the ground.

'I can't believe this is it,' he thought in defeat. '…No…it cannot end like this…I promised her…I promised Selphie that I would never leave her again…'

"Ray-bomb!"

Irvine looked up to his left and saw beams of energy coming out of Quistis' eyes. They drew a horizontal line underneath the GF and exploded, sending the massive creature about fifty foot into the air. It landed back down with a trump and it was on its knees.

Squall took this as an advantage and ran up to make a diagonal gash along Pandemona's torso. It fell forward and sent shockwaves through the ground in which the trio could feel in their legs.

Quistis and Squall joined Irvine on their knees, catching their breath. Squall and Irvine looked over to Quistis, who was looking at the object on the ground. It was Seifer's Hyperion.

"Are you ok?" Squall asked. Quistis looked up and nodded.

"I'm fine, I managed to save myself," she said, finally catching her breath. "But I couldn't save Seifer."

Irvine stood up.

"Where is he now?"

The other two stood up, Quistis with Hyperion in her hand and she leaned forward against it.

"I'm assuming at the infirmary where I told Zell and Selphie to take him." She looked down at the black arc of the gun blade and looked back up at Irvine. "Do you know how to use a gun blade."

Irvine shrugged his shoulders.

"I know a little thin' or two 'bout them. Why are ya askin'?"

Quistis smiled.

"We still have monsters to get rid of and you're out of bullets," she explained. "I think Seifer wouldn't mind if you borrowed Hyperion just for this one occasion."

Irvine nodded and reached forward and took the weapon out of her hand.

"I'll look after it for him."

The three of them glanced around at each other.

"We better go out into the Quad," Squall mentioned, slinging his sword over his shoulder. "They're having a bit of trouble dealing with the monsters there, the main hall is clean and the team at the Front Gate are just getting rid of the last of them."

Quistis nodded and ran through the two men and they followed behind her.

* * *

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter: Garden sets sail for Galbadia and Quistis finally meets up with that girl that she had promised to talk to.


	6. An Untold Past

A/N: Thanks to those who keep reading this story, so far it has been a pleasure to write for you all. This chapter will answer Seifer's question from my last story in relation to a certain "incident." Please keep reading and enjoying this as I continue to enjoy writing for you.

Warnings: Mention of rape, nothing graphic or descriptive, just a discussion about it.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

**

* * *

****Chapter Six: An Untold Past**

'…_ugh…what happened?' he thought. '…I can't remember anything except for being blown away…Why can't I wake up? Hello…anybody here…? Huh? What is that bright light?'_

Emerald green eyes flicked open, slowly, adjusting to the incoming light. Blurry faces were trying to focus until he could interpret them, there were four of them. He knew by the blurred outlines he knew who they were.

"Welcome back to the real world, Seifer," Dr. Kadowaki said. Seifer tried to sit up, but a set of hands held his shoulders down.

"Don't get up," Quistis told him and he painfully laid back down. "You've taken a fair amount of damage to your body."

Kadowaki held the clipboard that she was holding close to her body.

"Yes indeed you have, we had to place a metal plate on your breast bone to hold it together as it was completely broken right down the middle," she explained. "Other than that, you only suffered a few broken ribs and minor internal bleeding."

Squall moved to the end of the bed.

"You were very lucky, Selphie and Zell had to bring you in after you got knocked out two days ago."

Seifer's eyes widened.

"I was out for two days? What about the monster problem?"

"Quistis, Squall, Irvine and Zell handle that while Selphie and Rinoa were helping out here in the infirmary," Xu replied, formally. "You were put into an induced coma so that Kadowaki could work on you."

Seifer rolled his eyes back and sighed.

"Of all the times to be knocked out, this would have to be the worst. A great start to the New Year I reckon."

Quistis sighed at his sarcasm and looked up at everyone else.

"Squall, Xu. Can you please leave so that Seifer can rest, I'll be up there shortly."

They nodded and walked out. Kadowaki went to the door and glanced back at the young couple.

"I'll leave you to it," she said. "Be sure that he rests."

She closed the door behind her and Quistis looked back down at the man on the bed. A bandage was wrapped around his chest, a few stitches were on his face where he bled from. He was very lucky indeed.

Quistis laid a hand on his forehead, caressing his temple with her thumb so delicately that she was afraid of breaking him. It wouldn't have been the first time that he was broken, that's how he was after Ultimecia in the Lunatic Pandora and she actually saw it in his eyes as he walked past her. That was the first moment she ever felt scared of him, or was she scared for him?

Her hand eventually found its way down to his chest and she shut her eyes tightly, feeling the tears form into her eyes.

'…I was scared. I thought I was going to lose you again,' she thought and shook her head. '…I can't really remember the last time I've felt scared like that, except for…no, I cannot say it. I'm sure as hell not going to start crying over it, I haven't for eleven years.'

Quistis looked up as she felt Seifer's hand move on top of hers, caressing her knuckles and holding it close to him. Somehow, Seifer could sense her fear, and he wanted to take it all away. He knew that Quistis was good at hiding her inner most feelings and not showing it to others, but he also knew that she keeps it all inside herself.

Her fear, he felt that he had caused it that day. He mentally kicked himself for it.

"I'm alive you know," he said and she looked up at him. "There's no need to feel what you're feeling now."

His large hand went up onto her face, caressing her cheek. Quistis leaned into his touch and let out a soft moan. Seifer moved his hand to the back of her head and brought her face closer to his, gently pressing his lips onto hers and moved them slowly. Seifer eventually pushed his tongue into her mouth, intertwining with hers.

Quistis pulled back and as blue eyes met green eyes. He was smiling and she knew that she should be smiling too. But it was what he said that got her to do it.

"I can't believe that I can still make you get emotional. Just a few years ago you wanted to kill me, but I guess that goes to show that you really do care."

She smiled and Seifer gathered her into his arms, cradling her and he closed his eyes.

* * *

The next day, Seifer was discharged from the infirmary and was ordered by Dr. Kadowaki to be put onto light duties. He scoffed at this and said that he was the commander of the Garden and that he did whatever he pleased. But fortunately Quistis and Xu were there when he said it and hey both put him back into his place.

He wasn't happy to be stuck doing desk work for a month.

"Fucking office work my ass!" he exclaimed as he, Quistis and Squall gathered in Xu's office. "It's not like exercise is going to kill me."

Quistis sighed and shook her head.

"It is just until you're injuries heal up enough so that you can be fully functional in battle," she told him sternly. "Just be grateful that she managed to stitch your whole chest back together."

He groaned and slammed his fist onto the desk.

"…Just my luck."

The trio's attention turned to the doors of the office opening. Xu strode in, not even bothering to close the doors. She stopped nearby her desk and cleared her throat.

"I would appreciate that wouldn't lean up against my desk, Almasy," she said. "I don't want to have to sterilise it."

Seifer pushed himself off and turned around just as Xu walked around sat down.

"Bite ya ass Xu before I kick it…"

"I understand you're to be put onto light duties for the next month, so I would suggest that you don't do anything that you might regret later…"

"Can we just get on with it?" Quistis intervened. "We're all busy here and we need to get back to work."

Squall nodded.

"Quistis has a point. I have to teach a class in ten minutes."

Within the past two years, Squall had finally took up the challenge of acquiring his instructor's licence alongside Irvine, Zell and Selphie. He took the responsibility of relieving Quistis of most of her beginner's classes so that she could focus on her SeeD level and advanced lectures.

"Ok then," Xu finally said. "We have reports of a GF attack in the surrounding desert around Galbadia Garden, we are to set a course for the Garden as I need to meet up with Martine and exchange information."

"Why couldn't they call us?" Seifer asked and raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that be more convenient?"

Xu shook her head.

"It would be, but it is better to talk face to face. Also they have managed to gain some vital information," she explained and the smiled. "This will give you and Quistis to wander around to evaluate the Garden itself and to see what we could improve here."

Quistis swallowed a little. The mentioning of Galbadia Garden had brought back a memory of a particular situation that had occurred two years previous.

'Maybe…maybe it's time to see her,' she thought. 'I did promise her that I would.'

"Is everything ok?" Xu asked her friend.

Quistis snapped out of her thoughts and glared at the dark haired woman.

"Yeah…I think I am, I'm just wondering why Squall is up here?"

"Yes, why am I up here?" Squall followed up with the question.

"I was just getting to that," Xu replied. "I want you, Rinoa and Zell to accompany the SeeD squad from Galbadia in their GF search across the desert."

Squall looked to the ground. He began to think that it wouldn't be a good idea for Rinoa to be out there.

"With all due respect, I personally don't think Rinoa should be out there," he spoke up and everyone looked over to him. "Especially when the GF's are under sorceress control, why do you think we kept her in the infirmary a couple of days ago?"

Xu sighed and knew that Squall had a point.

"Fine then, take either Selphie or Irvine. At least for a couple of weeks then I won't gain any reports of inappropriate behaviour or innuendo being committed in Balamb Garden from those two in the Secret Area."

Seifer and Quistis stared at each other. They knew what Xu was talking about, and it wasn't entirely true. That behaviour did occur, but not from Selphie and Irvine, but from them and the next morning Xu would discuss it in front of them. Seifer would place the blame on Selphie and Irvine and Quistis would just allow him to do it, for the good of their reputation.

"Good idea," Seifer said. "Are we done here? I've only just got out of the infirmary and I want to go and eat some decent food."

Squall and Quistis rolled their eyes and Xu just sighed deeply.

"Ok then, you three are dismissed."

The trio walked out of the office and Xu slumped back into her chair and held the microphone to her mouth.

"Nida, get the Garden ready for take off and put an announcement over the main intercom to announce the course for Galbadia Garden."

"Roger that Xu." Nida returned and Xu turned off the microphone and threw it back onto her desk.

* * *

"Well, that's another one down the black hole," Irvine said and then he heard a gag. "But be careful there, you might end up choking."

Zell looked up from his plate, another hotdog ready to be stuffed down his throat.

"What?" he questioned with his mouth full and then swallowed his food. "This is my first lot in about six days, I thought I wasn't going to survive."

He shoved down the hotdog in his hand, his cheeks puffed out as if they had been stung by an insect. Everyone at the table rolled their eyes at what they just heard.

"Seriously Zell, you could at least show a little bit of restraint with the hotdogs," Selphie said. "It's unhealthy!"

"She's right," Rinoa spoke up and pointed down at the plate. "Normal people usually have one or two, not nine or ten."

Zell stared over at her, wides narrowed as he picked up another hotdog and held it near his mouth.

"Listen, I'm an adult and I can do whatever the fuck I like, whenever I like," he spat and took a massive bite. "And another thin'…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as he began to cough…and again. He began to pound his chest, trying in vein to clear his airway. The two girls sighed and Irvine chuckled a little.

"This is why he needs to lay off the hotdogs for a while," Irvine stated.

Zell reached out across the table for Irvine.

"…Help…don't just sit there…" Zell breathed and bury his face into the table.

"Zell!"

Everyone turned over and saw Quistis rushing over, Seifer was in tow and tried to contain his laughter.

"Another hotdog frantic moment brought to you by Balamb's resident chicken-wuss," he commented and he joined in with Irvine's laughter.

Zell and Quistis both gave him a death glare. The instructor turned her attention to the struggling martial artist and began to firmly slap his back, over and over again, quickly. In a few more hits, she managed to dislodge the obstruction and Selphie and Rinoa winced at the sight.

"Eww…" Selphie whined. "Could you be even more disgusting?"

Rinoa gagged and jumped out her chair.

"I think it's time for my shift at the infirmary. I'll see you all later."

She left and Seifer took the seat that was vacated, Quistis sat down beside him.

"Are you ok, Zell?" she asked.

Zell looked up and nodded slowly.

"Thanks Quisty, I guess that I owe ya one now, huh?"

Quistis smiled and it was quickly gone as soon as both Irvine and Seifer began to crack up, again.

"Man, that was an absolute classic," Irvine said. "...But…"

He couldn't finish what he wanted to say as he went into a full ball of laughter, half of the cafeteria looked over to them. Seifer stopped laughing and reached over to grab the cowboy's hat.

"C'mon I need you to help me out with somethin'." He said as he placed the hat onto his head and got up.

Irvine got up as well and rubbed the back of his head.

"What is it?"

Seifer shook his head and walked around the table.

"Can't tell ya here, we'll head over to the Quad."

Irvine nodded and he began to walk away with Seifer. Quistis and Selphie looked at each other, trying to apprehend what just occurred.

"Ok, what was all that about?" Selphie asked the instructor. "Irvine never takes off without sayin' goodbye!"

Quistis shook her head.

"Well they better not be leaving Garden. We will be taking off shortly."

"Where are we going?"

"Galbadia Garden."

Selphie hitched a breath of shock, after what had happened last time when they were there that they would want to go there.

"Quistis, why are we going over there? Do you even remember what had happened there ten months ago when we were there?"

Indeed she does. They were there for some meetings and as they were crossing the ice hockey field, the whole team were found in a pool of blood. Murdered at the hands of what could have been a GF related death. The signs were like that of the more recent murders.

"Yes, but this has something to do with the GF's themselves," Quistis explained. "Xu has been summoned over there to check it out."

"But why can't she go there, and the Garden stays here?"

The blonde shrugged her shoulders.

"You know that Xu isn't one to do things the easy way. Besides, with Seifer's current condition she cannot afford to leave this place for an extended period for the next month."

Selphie nodded and looked around the table, noticing that Zell was missing.

"Where's Zell?"

Quistis looked around to search for the young man, until her eyes rested on the cafeteria line. She sighed and pointed over there. Selphie took the hint and the two women got up.

"Looks like we have to go and rescue him again," she said and took off.

"Looks like it," Quistis said under her breath and chased after the younger SeeD.

* * *

…_Ding…Ding…Ding_

"_Can Squall, Selphie and Zell please report to the bridge immediately. I repeat, can Squall Selphie and Zell please head to the bridge immediately." _

Quistis stared back out the window after the conclusion of the announcement. They must have been nearing land if they were to make an announcement such as that, considering the mission that the trio were about to undertake.

'I'm not worried about the murder of the hockey team,' she thought faintly. 'But…it's her, I cannot come to terms with it yet.'

And it has been two years since she found that young SeeD, the soldier pounding right into her as her, Seifer and Irvine charged into that dorm room that day. Since then, it only brought back bad memories for Quistis, something that she had kept from everyone else for eleven years. Only Dr. Kadowaki, Cid and Edea knew of the incident, as they had personally witnessed the fragile ten-year old girl arrive at the Front Gate. Clothes torn, bruised from head to toe and blood stained her skin.

'I can't run from my fears, it's only going to consume me.'

She was then distracted by the door of the dorm opening. Seifer walked in and stood at the doorframe of the bedroom, he saw that something was troubling her. Quistis had a sullen look upon her face, as if she saw something grave in front of her very eyes.

Her gaze turned over to him, noticing the way he was staring at her. Quistis knew she better divert his thoughts or otherwise he would press the truth out of her.

"I didn't expect you to be back so soon," she said and stared back out of the window. "What did you have to discuss with Irvine?"

Seifer walked over and sat down on the bed, staring down at the ground.

"Not much, just had to ask him something," he replied and then finally looking up at her. "But I something to ask you."

She gasped a little, she was trapped and an argument with him at that moment was the last thing she wanted.

Quistis nodded to confirm.

"Yes, what do you want to ask?"

"Why are you in here? Aren't you usually up on the third floor chattin' to Xu or with one of the others? You've been like this for the past week, since we left Balamb," he said and raised his palms. "What's going on? Everyone's worried about ya."

Quistis sighed and she felt the tears building in her eyes. She turn to look at him, but continued to stare out at the horizon.

"You know how a couple of years ago, after we walked in on that Galbadian SeeD that I would come back and talk to her as I was there once before."

Seifer nodded, wondering where she was going with it.

'Galbadian SeeD…? Oh, the situation with her and that soldier.'

"Yeah, I remember," he replied. "That's when I had Irvine to take care of that soldier. What of it?"

Quistis wrapped her arms around herself.

"When I said that I was there once before, I didn't mean that I witnessed it," she explained and paused for a brief moment before continuing. "…I had it happen to me a long time ago."

Seifer's eyes widened at this. He was about to say something, to comfort her and to ease her pain, but she continued on with the story.

"…I was only ten years old. My foster father was an ex-Galbadian soldier and my foster mother died in a car accident, just months beforehand, making him turn to alcohol to ease the pain."

She looked to the ground as the memories came back to her.

"I remember how he used to beat me when he was completely intoxicated and then beatings just got more severe, until…"

"…he raped you," Seifer finished for her as she wasn't able to do it himself.

She looked up at him then, the tear streamed down her face.

"...A friend of my foster mother's came over after it had happened and she tried to comfort me over it. She called the police and they arrested him, the next day Cid and Edea came and took me to Garden and I was instantly junctioned with Shiva."

"And that's where you started losing your memories?"

Quistis nodded slowly.

"Yes, and now that Shiva is gone, I have nothing to protect me from the memories."

With that she sobbed. Seifer got up and knelt down in front of her, gathering her into his arms and held her as if he was afraid of breaking her. All this time, she had that inside herself, never telling anyone about it. Only three other people knew about it and there certainly wasn't any indication of her abuse throughout the time he knew her at Garden. She left the orphanage as a typical happy child and then the next time Seifer saw her at Garden, she was a broken person.

And Seifer defiantly knew what it was like to be broken.

"It's over now," he whispered. "You're still here, I'm here for you. You don't need to worry about anything anymore."

She didn't say anything and just continued to hold onto him.

* * *

The only sound inside that white clad room was the drumming of the fingers on the throne, well that was all he could do as he waited. Martine's head looked up as the elevator door opened and a familiar figure in the Balamb SeeD uniform walked out. He stood up as she approached, smiling gracefully as his wrinkled features defined themselves.

The young woman stopped in front of him and saluted.

"Headmaster Martine," Xu said and lowered her hand as the older man saluted back. "It's a pleasure to see you again, sir."

Martine nodded at the young headmistress.

"You too headmistress," Martine acknowledged her. "It's been too long."

He stood back and sat back down in the throne.

"I'm sure that you're well aware of the SeeD team that departed this morning, led by Lieutenant Leonhart."

Xu nodded.

"Yes I am, and it was a well judged allocation as Squall is a fine SeeD and an outstanding leader."

"I couldn't agree more," the headmaster replied. "The way he took command during the sorceress war was truly excellent and I hold him in the highest regard."

Xu cleared her throat and folded her hands in front of her.

"Yes, now you wanted to see me about something related to GF situation?"

Martine rose and walked past her.

"Yes I do, please follow me as I have it in a secure location."

Xu turned on her heel and followed him over to the elevator.

* * *

"Hey! Wait up for me!" Zell called out and chased after the group that were ahead of him.

Seifer and the others stopped and turned to him.

"Hurry the hell up," the taller man said with impatience. "Xu wants us to survey this place, so the quicker we do it the sooner we get outta here."

Zell rubbed the back of his head.

"But, I was just observing why this place is better than Balamb. Look at the Hyne damned cafeteria!"

Everyone sighed. Rinoa looked over to Seifer.

"What if we split into two groups, then we'll get it done faster."

"Sounds like a good idea," Quistis agreed and pointed at Zell, Rinoa and Irvine. "How about you three stay down on this floor and Seifer and I go and do the upper floors."

Irvine rubbed at his neck.

"Why you two?"

Quistis and Seifer looked at each other.

"Just something we need to check out up there," Seifer said, covering their intentions. "It won't take long."

He nodded and pointed ahead.

"Ok then, let's roll!" The three of them ran ahead and Seifer and Quistis took the stairs up onto the second floor.

* * *

The doors slid open and Xu followed Martine in. Of all the times that she had been to Galbadia Garden, she had never seen this room before. Maybe that was because the elevator had a code for this level.

'This place reminds me of our basement level,' she thought as she looked around at the dim lit room. 'But this actually a mixture between the basement level and the Deep Sea Research Centre.'

"Welcome to our secret research area," Martine said and turned around. "This is the one place that only SeeD officers and myself have access to. It is restricted for all others to enter."

Xu could only dream of Balamb having a place as exquisite as this.

"So, what brings us down here?"

Martine walked to a metal wall and pressed a button.

"This."

The wall rose and a hidden water tank emerged. Inside it was a creature, submerged and dormant. It looked like a snake, only that it had fins and scaled like a dragon. It was almost invisible as its deep blue matched the colour of the water.

"A GF?"

Martine nodded.

"A SeeD squad caught this in the nearby desert, suffering from dehydration. It didn't attack as it is not a land based GF and wasn't junctioned to anything."

Xu walked up closer to it. She knew who this GF was junctioned to. It was junctioned to Selphie…

_The GF slithered its way out of her body, it attached onto the electrically charged Quezacotl and flew away. Xu watched the unconscious body of Selphie before turning her attention over to Squall and Zell, wondering if they were to succumb to the same fate._

'_What's going on…?'_

Xu snapped out of her thoughts and looked back up to the GF.

"Xu, is everything alright?"

Xu looked up at the headmaster and she didn't want the same thing to happen again.

"I want this GF to remain dormant, we may need to use it to run some tests on it," she explained and looked back up at the tank. "We'll keep our Garden here until we get some answers, meanwhile we will continue searching by dispatching a few Balamb SeeD squads."

Martine nodded.

"Very well then, I will make the arrangements with a few of the scientists over at the Deep Sea Research Centre to come here to run those tests."

They remained silent for the next little while and all they did was stare at the former ally encased in that tank of water.

* * *

'This is the dorm, I think,' Quistis thought. 'I hope she's still here.'

She knocked a couple of times, hearing a muffled reply. Seifer noticed her uneasiness and reached down to grip her hand. She squeezed back softly as the door opened.

A young woman with long brown hair and dressed in a Galbadian SeeD uniform stood there, gasped as she saw who knocked. She looked down and stood aside to allow the two SeeD's to walk in. The door closed behind them and the young SeeD sat down onto her bed.

"I…I thought you had forgotten," she said and Quistis walked over and slowly sat down next to her.

"No, I just had to deal with some things," she said softly. "But the main thing is that I kept my promise and came back. Anyway, how have you been doing? It has been two years."

The woman looked straight into the sapphire stare, finding some sort of comfort.

"I'm getting there, but the memories are keeping me up sometimes."

Quistis nodded.

"I know, they won't go away," she grabbed the other woman's hand. "I still think back to that day and I don't think I will ever forget."

The woman looked up at Seifer, who was standing there and watching the two females.

"Don't worry, I saw the whole incident," he said. "Me and another guy took care of that soldier for you."

The woman stood up and rushed over to him, throwing her arms around his neck.

"…Thank you," she said and she let go of him and looked back to Quistis. "Thank you to you both, you two and Irvine saved me and I don't think I'll be able…"

"No need to thank us," Quistis said. "What's your name?"

"Lauren," she replied, gazing at the older woman with her coffee brown eyes. "But there must be something that I could do?"

Seifer and Quistis looked at each other.

"There is nothing, we don't expect anything in return," Seifer said.

A bell rang over the loudspeaker.

"_Attention, can the SeeD's from Balamb Garden please meet Headmistress Xu back at Balamb Garden. I repeat, can the SeeD's from Balamb Garden head back to Balamb Garden immediately." _

"That's our cue," Seifer said and walked to the door.

Quistis nodded and looked back down at Lauren, who was a few inches shorter than her.

"I've got to go. I hope you're ok."

The slim girl gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine now that you came back."

Quistis smiled and turned to walk to the door.

"Quistis!" Lauren called out as the taller woman walked out and Quistis turned around. "Do you want to know how I know Irvine?"

"Well it would be hard for people here not to know him," Quistis said. "I heard he was the best sharpshooter here."

Lauren nodded.

"Yes, and also because I dated him for a few months. But I caught him cheating on me with some other girl just before the war."

Quistis smiled, now knowing of Irvine's antics.

"Yep, that's certainly sounds like Irvine the ladies man."

The two women shared a chuckle before Quistis walked out and the door slid shut behind her.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that chapter, please keep reading. Next chapter: Squall's team find something interesting on their mission. A SeeD team gets dispatched for a mission, and research starts on the GF at Galbadia Garden.


	7. Revival

A/N: Finally another chapter. This chapter will involve betrayal by two very unlikely characters towards the end and a few characters face certain death. Have fun reading it and continue to enjoy it.

Warnings: Implied adult situation, slight chance of major character death, GF death

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.**

* * *

**

**Chapter Seven: Revival**

The blue thing continued to float inside that tank. Men and women clad in white lab coats watched on in awe of the great creature, scribbling things down onto their clipboards. Monitors beeped constantly, the only sound inside that dimed, dark room and it was the only thing other than the tank to provide sufficient lighting.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Martine asked, his voice entered the room behind the scientists. He walked forward towards them and stopped just metres from the short figure of the head scientist. "And to think we found it out in the middle of a desert, now it lives in here."

The scientist pushed her glasses further up her long, thin nose and stared up at the headmaster.

"And you are lucky that you found it when you did," she said casually and observed the clipboard. "But we have found very little at this stage in terms of the GF itself as we don't have the facilities here."

Martine nodded and glared past her, his attention fixed on the GF in the glass tube.

"I understand, let me know if you need anything down here."

She nodded and the two of them turned away from each other. As the headmaster left the room, the eyes of Leviathan gleamed red.

'It won't be long now,' Leviathan thought. 'I can sense our mistress awakening nearby…'

_

* * *

_

_Fithos…Lusec…Wecos…Vinosec_

"_Come back to a place of no return…" _

_Rinoa gripped her head. _

"_No! Go away!" _

_That wicked laugh filled her head._

"_No matter how long you can hold on…it will consume you…you and the lion can be very powerful if you give in you desire…"_

_Rinoa screamed even louder._

"_GO AWAY! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!...I can't go on for much longer…" _

"Squall!" Rinoa cried out as she jolted up in a cold sweat.

She was panting heavily, had no clue in where she was. It was only for a few minutes until she looked around at the familiar sight of the dorm.

'It was only a dream,' she thought and threw her legs over the side of the bed. 'When will they stop?'

It would have been fine if Squall was there, to comfort her when she would wake from these dreams. But unfortunately he wasn't, he was out wandering some desolate desert in search for the very thing causing these sequence of events. Knowing that didn't put her mind at ease and in turn it had made her even more anxious. But at least she could still rely on the likes of Irvine, Quistis and Seifer who were still around for obvious reasons.

"Well, time to go out and meet the others," she said and got up, walking out of the dorm.

* * *

Rinoa was walking down the corridor towards the cafeteria until she saw the figures of Quistis and Irvine running towards her.

"Hey, what's going…"

She didn't get the chance as Quistis grabbed her arm in her sprint and dragged the young sorceress along with her.

"Everyone is to go up to Xu's office immediately!" Quistis explained. "All will be revealed once we get there!"

* * *

"Martine! Calm down and explain what's going on!" Seifer yelled through the phone. "Come on, stay with me…Fuck!"

Just as he slammed down the phone, Quistis and the others charged in. Xu was standing beside him and glanced up at his curse.

"What is it?"

He glared down at her and threw his arm out to the side in frustration.

"The phones over there just went out," he replied, panicking. "We have officially lost communication with Galbadia!"

"What's going on?" Quistis asked, knowing that something was wrong. The two people in front looked over.

Xu walked to the front of the desk.

"The GF that they had found has escaped from the tank that it was confined in," she explained, in a calmer manner than her commander. "The SeeD's protecting it are dead and injured the majority of the student population, now it is at the front gate of their Garden."

The trio's jaws dropped.

"Then we better take action!" Irvine blurted out even before he processed the information.

"But we just can't rush in there, we need to lead it away from the population," Quistis explained.

"But how?" Rinoa asked. "We have nothing to use."

Xu smiled.

"We have the Rangarok," she said. "If we are able to damage it enough with its cannons, we might be able to drive it away and then pursuit it to a location where we can take it down."

Quistis nodded. Just because Selphie and Zell weren't there, didn't mean that the Rangarok was of no use. Quistis had learned to operate the controls to pilot the massive aircraft, with a lot more ease than Selphie. She actually had to fly it a few times during the past year whenever Zell or Selphie weren't available. Maybe that was why Xu suggested on using the Rangarok, because she knew that Quistis could fly better than the perky brunette.

"I can pilot," she said. "I just need two more people to operate the cannons."

Rinoa and Irvine turned to her nodded.

"You can count on us!" Rinoa said excitedly.

Xu looked at her.

"Are you sure? Squall wouldn't be too thrilled of you going on a mission this dangerous."

Rinoa laughed lightly and rested her chin in her hand.

"I think he worries about me too much. I'll be fine, knowing that I will be with two people that I can trust."

Xu looked at them and nodded.

"Fine then, but be careful."

They saluted and rushed out of the office. Seifer couldn't believe what he was hearing and rushed out as well.

"Hey!" he called out and Quistis stopped. "What do ya think ya doin'?"

She glared at him, his facial expression showed that he wasn't too thrilled of what she was about to do.

"I'm doing my duty," she replied. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"Don't you realise that this is a suicide mission?" he asked exasperated. "You could be killed!"

She shook his hands off her and narrowed her eyes. It wasn't the time to argue, if it was him going out she wouldn't be doing this instead she would be telling him to be careful and to come back safely. Quistis couldn't comprehend what was going on in front of her at the moment.

"Dammit Seifer, I have to do this and I don't care if you think it's a good idea or not!" She turned away from him. "We're all that Garden has left at the moment, and we need to lead the charge."

Quistis joined the other two in the elevator and then Seifer stomped a foot onto the ground flew his arm out to the side.

"Fuckin' fine then, but if ya leave and the come back all injured and shit, you won't be getting' any sympathy from me!" Seifer shouted at her and tightly gripped the sides of his head.

With that statement, Quistis felt hurt and the other two gasped. He had never talked to her like that and as the elevator descended, the realisation of his words sunk in.

'What if he's right,' she thought and slapped her forehead. 'What have I done?'

As Seifer watched the elevator descend, he couldn't keep the rage inside him.

"Fuck!" He swore loudly and punched the glass of the elevator door, smashing it into tiny shards. He winced as the sharp pieces pierced his skin, matching the pain of the realisation of what he could lose.

Seifer gripped his injured hand and turned towards the office door. Xu stood there with a fearful expression, eyes widened, something that he never saw before.

"I heard arguing and I…sorry that I had to witness that."

Seifer's rage subdued as he looked down at his hand, the glass had punctured his gloves and blood was trickling out and covering it. He looked up and gave the young woman a nod before walking away to his own office.

* * *

The casualties were worse than what they thought it would be. Young people, dead before their prime were the majority as they joined their fellow cadets, SeeD's and instructor as one of the fallen. Irvine and Rinoa examined two of the fallen as Quistis looked around, the grip around Save the Queen tightened.

"Where is it?" she whispered to herself. "It couldn't have gotten far."

The main hall was covered in rubble from the holes formed in the walls and all around them was fire, the only source of light amongst the chaos that a former ally had created.

The sound of screeching metal was heard, Irvine looked up and scanned his head. He knew that it was still here.

"Girls, I think we're not alone," he stated and took an offensive stance, "We should stay alert."

Rinoa stood up and held her Blaster's Edge ready, walking backwards until she was back to back with the instructor.

"Where's Martine?" she asked.

Quistis shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, we lost communication with him about an hour ago."

The noise stopped momentarily, but the three of them weren't prepared for what happened next.

The only undamaged wall blew open. A figure flew in midair and landed near the three SeeD's. Then it emerged. Leviathan charged at them and they had very little time to move.

"Dive!" Quistis shouted and the two girls dove out of Leviathan's path, narrowly missing them.

Quistis landed heavily on her left shoulder and cried out in pain. She tried to get up until she realised that she couldn't move her whole left arm.

"Damn!"

Irvine rushed over and hoisted her up by her uninjured side.

"You ok?"

Quistis bent over to grab her whip before gripping her injured shoulder.

"I'm fine, I think I've just dislocated it."

Her eyes scanned around the scene. Leviathan was gone and the figure was lying face down on the ground, to who Rinoa was tending to.

"He's dead," she finally said and stood up. "Martine is gone."

The other two stayed silent at that, too shocked to speak. But it wasn't the time to stand around and feel sorry. They still had a duty to fulfil.

Quistis looked to and from her two fellow SeeD's and nodded.

"Come on, we still have work to do."

They walked back out of the main hall and out of the entrance. Once back inside the Rangarok they rode the elevator up to the bridge. It stopped and the three of them got off together. Rinoa and Irvine noticed that Quistis' left arm was dangling like a dead limb by her side, rendering it useless until it can be popped back into place. Irvine swallowed at this, trying to fix a dislocated shoulder on Quistis usually resulted in a broken nose. He stopped the blonde as she approached the pilot's seat.

"Here, let me put that shoulder into place before we take off."

She winced at this, knowing all too well that a dislocation being put back into place is always a painful experience. Quistis knew that she had to take it and get it over and done with instead of trying to fight with only one good arm.

Irvine helped her down onto the floor and he knelt behind her. Rinoa came to her side and held her hand, knowing that Quistis was known for having a dangerous right hook and unfortunately it was Irvine in a similar situation that was on the wrong end of it.

"Ok then, I'm going to count to three…1…2…3!"

In an instant, Irvine pulled as hard as he could to force the bone back into the socket. Rinoa was struggling to hold Quistis' stronger arm down as the young blonde cried out in pain and with a pop, the bone was put back into place. She moved it around painfully and stood back up.

"Thanks for that," she said, smiling at the cowboy. "Now, let's go and get ourselves a GF."

* * *

"Man this place is hot!" Zell exclaimed and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He stopped and looked up ahead at Squall and noticed that he was still in his usual attire. "Squall! How in Hyne's name can you wear that stuff?"

Squall and Selphie stopped and looked back at him.

"Now I know why Seifer calls you chicken-wuss!" Selphie said loudly and stomped a foot into the hot, desert sand. "You do nothing but complain!"

He ran over, tripping and sinking into the sand, burning his skin. The final effort he fell face first into the sand, right in front of Selphie. Zell knew that he was in a dangerous position because if he looked up then all hell would break loose, as he had always seen with Irvine during the war as she used to call him a pervert before she fell head over heels for him..

Zell jumped up and growled.

"I hope the other teams are having better luck than us, because we're not finding a thing."

Squall turned around and scanned around at the desolate plains. He knew that Zell could be right, but he wasn't prepared to give up yet.

"We'll keep searching for another hour," he said and turned around, placing a hand on his hip. "If we don't find anything, we'll head back to base camp and try again tomorrow."

The other two nodded and then they followed their leader out.

* * *

"There it is!" Rinoa pointed out on the desert below them. "Get us low enough so we can blast it."

Quistis nodded and brought the aircraft down a steady descent. She levelled the ship until Irvine and Rinoa had the best possible vantage point.

"Ok Quisty, keep it there!" Irvine called back to her.

He pressed a button to charge the cannon and upon seeing that, Rinoa gripped the trigger for the main gun. Quistis looked out the window, waiting to keep the command.

'Steady…steady…'

"Fire!"

At her command, Irvine pressed the button to fire and likewise Rinoa began her assault. Down below, Leviathan stopped and was engulfed in the fire. Quistis knew that it was weakening. Suddenly the alarm went off, the main cannon was malfunctioning.

"Shit! What should we do?"

'Fuck,' Quistis mentally swore. 'If we keep going like this, we are going to fall out of the sky. But if we don't, many innocent people could die…Live or death…it's in my hands.'

"Quistis!" Rinoa shouted above the siren. "We need to know what to…"

Quistis snapped around, knowing that her decision would mean the end of them.

"Keep firing, we've almost got it!"

Leviathan let out a screech before it came to its demise, exploding. The panel in front of Irvine exploded and the whole ship shook. Quistis bowed her head and closed her eyes…

'I'm sorry Seifer, but I had to do it…'

* * *

Nearby, Squall and the others stopped and looked to the ground. Their hour was up and nothing was found. Squall turned to them.

"Come on, let's go back," he said lightly. "Obviously nothing's here…"

Selphie pointed out past him.

"Hey! Isn't that the Rangarok?"

Zell narrowed his eyes to try and get a closer look.

"Yeah! I think it is," he replied and looked over to Squall, who was looking at the falling airship. "Why the hell is it all the way out here?"

Squall shook his head.

"I don't know and…"

"Oh no! It's gonna crash!" Selphie yelled.

The aircraft disappeared behind a nearby sand dune and a loud boom had indicated that it had crashed into the ground. From where they were, the rear end was still up.

"Whoa! We better go and check it out!"

Squall nodded and pulled out the radio.

"Xu…can you hear me?"

Feedback came through the speaker and Xu's voice came from the other side.

_"Yes Squall, what is it?"_

Squall cleared his throat.

"We have a critical emergency, the Rangarok has just crashed nearby our current location. Permission to investigate?"

There was a long pause before Xu replied.

_"Permission granted. Contact Nida to organise recovery teams to meet you out there, contact the rest of your team to stay where they are and pick them up to bring them back to Balamb Garden, we have a situation over at Galbadia Garden."_

Squall's eyes widened.

"What's the situation?"

_"I'll explain it when you get back. Hurry up over there and report back A.S.A.P."_

Squall nodded.

"Roger that," he replied and placed the radio back onto his belt, he looked to the others. "Let's go."

Xu sat back in her chair, she had the bad feeling that it was going to be bad news. She couldn't handle it…how would Seifer feel knowing that the last thing that he had said to Quistis was in a heated argument. She had to tell him to expect the worst.

* * *

Her fist landed lightly upon the door. She was hoping that he would be in there, hopefully sober.

'Maybe he's not,' Xu thought. 'I have to sort this thing out once and for all.'

She knocked on the door again before she heard a groan and then the door opened. Well, at least he had the decency to keep his shirt on.

"What do you want?" he asked, his breath smelled of alcohol.

Xu crossed her arms and shook her head.

"I thought that I might come here and join you, since you're the only person in this place that has a strong enough drink."

He smirked and stepped aside.

"Well then, I'm not gonna stop you."

She returned the smirk and brushed past him. Seifer sighed and closed the door and joined her in the living room. Xu had set herself down on the couch, pouring herself a glass before topping up Seifer's. He sat down next to her and picked up the glass.

Xu took hers and took a decent amount, wincing at its taste.

"What the? What is this stuff? It tastes familiar."

Seifer chuckled.

"That my dear is the same drink that I left you the night of my graduation," he replied. "You said you enjoyed it."

Xu took another sip.

"Yes I did, I just haven't had a drink in a while."

Seifer drank half of the glass and stared at her, noticing that she was drinking more and more of it until the whole glass was empty. She set the glass down and began to feel uneasy. Seifer noticed it and chuckled.

"Gee Xu, I thought that you could handle your drink better than that."

She glared at him.

"Shut the fuck up," she snapped and then regained her composure. "You know, I was talking to Squall before over the radio."

Seifer finished his drink and placed the glass down and then sat back.

"Yeah? They found anything yet?"

Xu sighed, feeling the tears building up.

"Not really…I'm sorry Seifer," she said slowly and Seifer's stomach tied up into knots. "They saw the Rangarok crash into the sand dune, and I think we have to fear the worst in saying that there is a slim chance that they would have survived."

Seifer's eyes snapped open and then he leaned forward onto his elbows. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, it shouldn't have ended like that. They shouldn't have left it at that, now the last moment he had with her was some pointless argument.

Now he felt like a complete tool, he should have supported her. Now, he felt empty.

"Seifer…"

He looked at her and then without saying a word, he stood up and picked up the bottle of alcohol and walked towards the bedroom. Xu watched him and knew that it wasn't safe to leave him alone, especially in the state that he was in, Quistis sure as hell wouldn't forgive her if she did.

Unconsciously, she got up and walked in after him. Seifer was staring out of the window, consistently taking mouthfuls out of the bottle in his hand. Xu slowly walked over, feeling pity for the ex-knight and removed the bottle, settling it on the desk. She then, without realising it, placing her hands onto his as a sign of comfort. Like her, he was suffering grief as it was highly possible that they had lost a friend…a lover. Xu always thought that Seifer was a heartless piece of work, his actions during Ultimecia's reign was enough to convince her otherwise. But at that moment, she had began to understand that Seifer too was capable of pain, of experiencing grief…that he had a heart after all.

"It shouldn't end like this," he finally said after a while. "Especially after a fight."

Xu gripped his hand a bit tighter and felt her heart race.

"I know, it's not fair."

Seifer looked down at her, not with the usual hardness that he gave her when he did. This time, it was with admiration. He admired her strength and he wanted that strength. He wanted the pain to go away. At that he turned fully to her and moved his hands down to her waist, without his permission. Xu was confused, knowing that neither of them were no longer in the right state of mind, especially for the next sequence of events.

Slowly, he descended his lips onto hers, moving slowly against hers. She widened her eyes before relaxing and moving with him, tenderly as if she were afraid to break him.. Xu then wrapped her arms around the back of his neck to deepen the kiss and then gripped the back of his coat and pulled it down as Seifer fumbled around with the buttons of her jacket. The two pieces of fabric fell to the ground, shortly joined by Seifer's blue vest.

Seifer tore away and then descended onto her neck, leaving little white imprints on her neck. She gasped, not realising that Seifer was pushing her back towards the bed and in their drunken stumble they fell together, unaware that there was the slightest hope that their grief was all for nothing.

* * *

His steel blue eyes scanned around the horrific sight in front of him. The Rangarok was in shatters as bits and pieces were everywhere. He felt his heart sink at the possibility of no survivors. The other two would agree with him in saying that by the looks of things, it would take a miracle for someone to survive.

"You see anything yet Zell?" Selphie called out as she walked around.

"Nope, nothing yet except for…huh?"

Squall looked over and saw Zell looking down. He ran over to the young martial artist and wondered what was going on. Indeed, it was a sight that he didn't want to see.

"Is that…"

Squall bent down and picked up the familiar object. Leather on leather and Squall scanned his eyes over the sharp barbs. Selphie approached them and her eyes widened at the thing dangling in the gloved hand of Squall.

"Quistis' Save the Queen," Squall managed to say and Selphie gasped. "She was on board when the ship crashed."

Zell looked up.

"…ugh…" someone moaned from nearby. "…uhh…"

Zell looked towards what looked to be the bridge. He instinctively rushed over and pressed his ear against the metal.

"Hey! Anybody in there?"

The person moaned again.

"…Help…get us out of here…"

Zell motioned for Squall to come over. Squall nodded and pulled out his gunblade. He began slashing at the steelwork, incision after incision. He finished and together with Zell they pulled the steel back and once they opened up the ship they saw a sight that placed their minds at ease.

Two gloved hands gripped the edge of the newly formed hole. Zell and Squall grabbed the hands and pulled the person free, it was Quistis. They laid her down nearby, amazed at the minimal amount of injuries that she had, except for a few small cuts to her face and to her exposed stomach.

"What happened?" Squall asked her.

Quistis tried to sit up, but she collapsed back down as the pain in her stomach was too much.

"We were using the main ships cannon and gun to bring down the GF that broke out of Galbadia Garden," she replied painfully. "Then the whole thing malfunctioned."

Squall sighed.

"Just as long as you're ok, who else was on board?"

Quistis coughed a little.

"Irvine and Rinoa, they were firing."

Squall's eyes widened at the mention of Rinoa's name. He felt guilty for not allowing her to go onto the mission with him, and now she could be critically injured. He mentally kicked himself.

But he shouldn't as Zell yelled something back.

"Squall!"

Squall looked back at Zell and Selphie.

"Irvine and Rinoa were in there too! Uninjured as well!"

Quistis closed her eyes and sighed.

'I guess I'm the unlucky one out of all of us,' she thought and then smiled weakly. 'But at least everyone is safe, that is the important thing.'

Squall continued to watch them and saw Irvine and Rinoa walking towards him.

He allowed himself a small grin.

'Hyne must really love us,' he thought. 'This is truly a miracle.'

"Squall!" Irvine called out and then stood nearby. "Good to see ya."

He wiped his face and then looked down at the ground at his injured comrade.

"I guess that you got roughed up a bit, how's the shoulder?"

Quistis opened her eyes and stared up at the dimmed sky.

"I think it popped out again."

Irvine laughed.

"Well then, the doctor can do it this time."

"So what now?" Rinoa asked. "Where's the rest of your team?"

Squall pointed in the direction in which they came from.

"We have a base camp set up a few miles that way, we'll go there and then call Garden to send a squad to pick us and the Galbadians up."

Irvine nodded.

"The whole place is in chaos, half of the population is dead. Including the headmaster!"

Selphie's jaw dropped.

"Martine's dead?"

"Afraid so," Irvine replied and turned back to Squall. "Lead the way."

Squall nodded. He and Irvine bent over to left Quistis up underneath her arms and supported her weight as they made way in the direction that Squall pointed to. One GF down, many more to go.

* * *

A/N: I'm not that cruel to kill off a major character, not yet. But what a betrayal, and by the two people that Quistis trusts the most. I wonder if she will ever find out, how are Seifer and Xu going to react the morning after? Or when Quistis returns very much alive. Next chapter: Everyone is reunited, despite the underlying secret of a relationship. Recovery time as the gang decide to vacation somewhere to get their minds off the current situation. Keep reading and enjoying this story as I enjoy writing it for you all.


	8. Aftermath

A/N: Just a casual chapter that will link into the sequence of events for the next couple of chapters. Hopefully you will enjoy this chapter as everyone is reunited, but the only thing that has changed is the fact that Xu and Seifer have to keep their one night stand a secret. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

**

* * *

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**Chapter Eight: Aftermath**

The sun shone through the window and landed onto the two lumps that was clearly visible on the bed. Obviously these two people were hung over as they pulled the sheet over their heads even further. But as they were falling back to sleep, the phone rang and the response was a groan from the blonde man.

Seifer threw the covers off his head and snapped his arm out to pick up the phone. He held his head and held the receiver to his ear.

"What is it?" he asked firmly.

"Seifer, you better get up to the third floor office," Nida responded. "Quistis, Squall and everyone else is up here."

Seifer's eyes widened at the mention of Quistis' name.

'So she's alive?' he thought. 'I thought she was dead.'

"Seifer, you still there?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head.

"Yeah, I'll be up there soon. I'll just grab a shower first."

"Good, and if you see Xu can you please tell her to get up here too."

Something like a cord under tension snapped inside Seifer, he wouldn't have any trouble finding Xu…she was lying next to him. He removed the covers to reveal a naked woman that wasn't Quistis, but instead it was Xu, her best friend. The brunette opened her eyes and as soon as they did, she instantly realised where she was, and who she has spent the night with.

Seifer hung up the phone and slapped his forehead. The two of them remained in an awkward silence, too embarrassed to even look at each other.

"That was Nida," he said after a while. "Quistis and the others survived, Squall's team have returned with them."

Xu buried herself into her hands and sighed deeply.

"What…what have we done?"

Seifer shrugged his shoulders and sighed as well.

"I don't know and it shouldn't have happened."

Without a word, Xu got up and began to seek out her discarded clothing. Once she got dressed, she walked out into the main room and picked up her keycard before turning back to the young man who leaned up against the door frame of the bedroom.

"I'll see you up in the office shortly," she said and walked out to leave Seifer alone to his thoughts. He didn't say anything or make any intention to do so, but he knew that nothing he could say would help the situation and he had decided to leave it at that.

As soon as Xu left, she stopped and looked down at the ground. She was shocked, stunned at not only what Seifer and she had done, but of something else that only just came to her mind.

'…Don't tell me that this is the week that I'm…' she began to think and then sighed. '…If I am, then the two of us will be screwed big time.'

* * *

Seifer rode the elevator up to the third floor. He made his way and stopped at the door and bowed his head. How was he going to face Quistis after what he had done? She shouldn't have to suffer for his mistakes, and that had happened before and he hated himself for that. Well not this time, he wasn't prepared to let her go and the only way that he could ensure that and that was to keep the whole thing a secret.

He pushed the doors open and entered the inevitable. As expected, Xu was behind her desk and she had cast a glance over to him before quickly looking away. Squall and Rinoa were sat down next to each other on a chair, Selphie, Irvine and Zell were talking and then finally his attention moved to the person he was more pleased to see than everyone else.

Quistis was lying down on a couch as Dr. Kadowaki tended to her midsection. The amount of blood-stained cloths was enough to tell Seifer that she was very lucky, considering that the other two were in a far better condition.

Kadowaki stood up and smiled at the young woman.

"Well then, you will have to take it easy for the next couple of weeks until the wound has fully healed," she explained. "I'd recommend that you should take some vacation time as I know that you wouldn't like the idea of light duties too much."

Quistis laughed softly as she couldn't do it any harder without causing more damage. Kadowaki began to walk out and then stopped upon seeing Seifer.

"She is a very lucky woman. At least now you have someone to spend your last two weeks with."

She walked past him as he made his way over. He stopped and looked down at her. The cuts and grazes on her face were barely visible due to the Cure spells that Squall had cast on her upon arriving back at Garden.

"Quistis…" he said softly and knelt down beside her, his hand shaking as he placed it onto her forehead. "…I'm sorry."

She snapped her eyes open at the sound of his voice and turned her head slightly to see him. Quistis noticed that he had one of those expressions that she had rarely seen him with, like the one when she woke up a couple of years earlier. She smiled slightly when he referred to their argument.

'I must have really scared him,' she thought. 'But I'm alive, so there is nothing to worry about.'

Just as she was about to say something, Xu cleared her throat to gain their attention.

"Well then, since the two of you are reacquainted with one another, maybe now we can get on with what we're up here for."

Seifer stood up and nodded. It was awkward for him to be in the same room as his girlfriend and the woman who he happened to have slept with the night before who was also Quistis' best friend. The sooner they finish, the better.

"Fine," he said and looked over to Squall. "Did you guys find out anything?"

Squall shook his head.

"No, not even the Galbadian team found anything," he replied. "All we found was the crash site of the Rangarok and Leviathan disappearing after the Ragnarok's assault."

Xu looked over to Irvine and Rinoa.

"You guys killed it?"

They both nodded.

"Yeah, we had to use the main cannon and gun to bring it down," Irvine explained. "It disappeared after an explosion."

"So why did the ship crash?" Selphie asked. "There was nothing wrong with the main flight controls."

This was true, Selphie had always performed regular maintenance on the main flight controls. But that wasn't the problem.

"The weaponry malfunctioned," Quistis said and painfully sat up unassisted. "The alarm went off just before the GF died, I ordered Rinoa and Irvine to ignore it and to keep firing."

Something snapped inside Selphie's head, she knew why the computer malfunctioned. She should have checked it.

Selphie was about to explain her thoughts, but Quistis continued.

"The rest of the computers, even the main flight controls malfunctioned and I was no longer able to control the aircraft. The three of us were knocked unconscious for a while and then I woke up to hear the voices of Squall and his team."

Xu looked over to Squall.

"And the three of you pulled Quistis and her team out, correct?"

Squall nodded.

"And you escorted them back to your camp and waited for vehicles from Garden to collect you and the Galbadian SeeD's?"

"Yes, the SeeD's from Galbadia came back with us after I made the call back to Garden, in which Nida sent vehicles out to get us."

Xu stood up and walked to the front of her desk.

"Where are the SeeD's now?"

"We've put them in the level one basement," Zell responded immediately and crossed his arms. "From what the other team said to us, Galbadia Garden is in ruins and we couldn't send them back to that."

Xu sighed and looked down.

"Well then, there's a mess that needs to cleaned up," she said softly and then looked up at everyone. "We can't do much else until Galbadia is capable to look after itself."

"But without a headmaster, they can't," Quistis said and stood up. "If they can get a person in charge, then they will be fine."

"So we will stick around until they have someone to take charge."

Irvine raised his hand.

"But what about the GF situation? We can't just drop that as it is a serious threat."

Xu waved him down.

"Yes, I know," she replied calmly. "But with this devastation, we need to step back and take a break. So that means everyone will be on vacation for the next couple of weeks until I have this mess sorted out."

"Uh…where in exactly would we go?" Zell asked.

Xu pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I don't care, just get out of here for a while and forget about what's happening here. Go as a group, or by yourselves it doesn't really matter. Go and have fun."

Without being asked to leave, they walked out of the office and left the young headmistress to her thoughts, and her hangover.

'I'm never drinking again,' she thought and looked up at the door as it closed. 'Damn you Seifer.'

* * *

"Hey, I heard that Esthar is nice at this time of the year," Irvine said as the group assembled in the Quad. "Let's go there."

"Oh great idea Irvy!" Selphie agreed excitedly and looked around at everyone else. "How 'bout it guys?"

There were a few groans from some of them. Squall's was the most obvious.

"I don't really want to go there," he said. "How about Trabia? There are cabins up there that we could go to."

Rinoa looked at him.

"Why don't you want to go to Esthar?"

"Because I just think Trabia would be good because of the snow."

In actual fact, Squall didn't want to face Laguna. They haven't seen each other since Laguna blurted out that he was Squall's father a year ago. Squall just wasn't ready to see the man that abandoned him all those years ago.

"Well, I'm agreein' with Irvine," Zell said and looked over to his girl. "Do you want to go to Esthar?"

Lisa nodded.

"I've always dreamed of going there."

Everyone's attention then drifted over to Seifer and Quistis, both of whom haven't anything yet.

"What about you two?" Irvine asked. "We can go either to Esthar or Trabia, it's your decision."

The two blondes looked at each other. They didn't care where they went, all they wanted to do is to get away from things to loosen the tension between them.

"How about we do both?" Quistis asked. "We can do Esthar the first week and then Trabia the next. And on the way to Esthar we can go and visit Matron and stay overnight."

Everyone smiled, they were happy with the idea. None of them haven't seen Edea in about a year and a visit was well overdue.

"Sounds good to me," Seifer said. "I'll go and inform Xu of our decision."

He stood up and took a few steps.

"Hang on, I'll come with you," Quistis offered.

"No, I won't be there for too long," he said. "Just go and get some of our things packed."

He walked off, and he wasn't going to see her just because of the vacation. There were some other matters in hand.

* * *

Xu had buried her head into her arms, and just as she was falling asleep, it was interrupted. Her head jolted up and saw him standing there, arms crossed and a haggard expression on his face.

"We need to talk," Seifer said and sat down in a chair in front of her desk.

She nodded, and the two them were silent for a while before Xu spoke.

"She is never to know about it," she said and then looked at him for the first time since that morning. "I'm afraid that the news will push her over the edge, the two of you almost lost each other and I'm afraid that will happen if we tell her."

"I couldn't agree more," he replied. "It was a mistake and it shouldn't have happened. Fuck…" Seifer held his head. "You're her best friend and I betrayed her, I don't think I could ever forgive myself for that."

Xu looked down and felt the tears build up in her eyes.

"She loves you," she managed to say after a while. "That is one thing that I could never do and, maybe if I didn't show up last night then we wouldn't be in this mess."

She looked up.

"I think you better go, maybe some time away from here will do us both some good so we can get our heads around this."

Without saying a word, Seifer got up and left the office. Once the doors closed behind him, Xu closed her eyes and the water built up in her eyes released into two thin streams down her face.

* * *

Quistis zipped up the last of the bags before sitting down on the edge of the bed. She smelled herself, only realising that she hadn't showered since she got back that morning. Well then, that was the first thing on her mind as she stood up and grabbed her clothes out of the wardrobe before making her way to the bathroom.

The water steamed up quickly and filled the tiny bathroom. Quistis unzipped her top and looked down at her stomach, it was bandaged all the way around her lower torso. She thought it was just to keep the dressing on, but it was a long gash and she lost a little bit of blood.

'Oh well, another scar to add to the collection.'

She removed the rest of her clothing and entered the shower. Lowering her head under the hot water and allowing it to drape over her slender shoulders to unknot the tension, her thoughts wandered to earlier. As she laid there on that couch, she couldn't say anything to Seifer as he comforted her, and just as soon as she summoned the strength to do so, the words couldn't leave her lips as Xu interrupted them.

Quistis sighed and reached out for the bar of soap, which was then grabbed from her by a familiar pair of hands. She twirled around and her gaze meet Seifer's bare chest. He smiled down at her and soaped his own hands up before turning her back around and rubbed down her back. She moaned at the feel of his touch against her skin. The soap was cleansing her skin and releasing the tension built up in her shoulders as he massaged the soap into her skin.

His large hand gripped her gently by the waist and he again turned her around to work on her front. She watched him as he was doing it, looking on with intensity as his hands worked on her slender figure. When he was done, he placed the soap on the holder behind her and gazed into her eyes. She returned the same soft gaze, neither of them could fathom the words that they wanted to say to one another.

Without a word, he cupped her cheek and his lips gently pressed against hers. She kissed him back as their mouths moved against each others, tongues dancing with one another and quickly and swiftly the passion that was climaxing at moment match that of the steam pouring out of the shower like hot lava releasing from a volcano.

Later, the two of them ended up in the bed together. Their hands laced tightly together, caressing each other and lying close enough to one another so that they could hear their heartbeats. That was the only sound in that room as they continue to look into each others eyes.

"I'm glad that you're alive," Seifer finally said to break the silence that had lingered since he found her in the shower. "I didn't mean to say those things yesterday and…"

Quistis silenced him by placing a finger to his lips and then caressed his jaw.

"It's alright," she smiled at him. "You didn't want to lose me and you almost did once before. But you don't need to worry anymore because I'm lying here next to you."

Seifer smiled at that and wrapped an arm around her before lying onto his back.

"I love you. Just don't ever scare me like that again."

She snuggled up against his chest and draped her fingers across his bare skin.

"I love you too. I won't be going anywhere."

With that, the two of them drifted off to sleep together.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully the one night stand will stay a secret, for both Quistis' and Seifer's sake. Next chapter: Vacation time for the young SeeDs and Squall meets up with his father in Eshtar.


	9. Vacation

A/N: As I said previously, the next couple of chapters will be more relaxed and also they will hit a few of the characters on a more personal level. Hopefully you will enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

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**Chapter Nine: Vacation**

A speedy blur ran down towards the old stone building that stood near the tip of Centra's coastline. The blur wasn't the only one as another soon followed it. Even though it was a clear blue skied day, the two blonde heads could be easily recognised as Zell Dincht and Seifer Almasy, the former who was running from the latter.

"Get your ass back here chicken wuss!" Seifer bellowed at the young man in front of him.

Upon hearing that name, Zell slowed to a stop and turned to the taller blonde. His face was red at the name that he hates being called.

"Don't call me that!"

Seifer didn't listen and in an instant, he was onto Zell by spearing into him and sent them both sprawling onto the earth. The ex-knight got up onto his knees and got Zell into a headlock, he squeezed tight and blocked off Zell's airway.

"Knock it off!" Quistis called out as her and the others approached them.

Seifer loosened his grip and the two men staggered up. The young instructor stopped in front of them and glared at the two of them. She sighed in disbelief.

"Can we please have a fight-free holiday without the two of you fighting for once?"

Seifer and Zell looked at each other and nodded. With all the stress that had been placed on all of them, the last thing they all needed was a fight.

"Fine with me," Seifer managed to say. "Just as long as he doesn't start whingeing about the fact we no longer have an airship to travel around in."

Zell glared up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Asshole…"

"Enough you two!" Rinoa cut in and sighed heavily and looked over to Quistis. "Can we please keep moving, we're almost there aren't we?"

Quistis met the young woman's gaze and nodded.

"Yes we are, we'll be there in five minutes if we start walking now."

With that she walked off and the others followed her.

* * *

A black clad person stood in the doorway of the old stone house and watched as the group of young SeeD's approached her. Edea couldn't help but smile as she watched her children running towards her just as they did when they were only little.

"_Children! Time for dinner!" Edea would call out from the top of the stairs that led down to the beach._

_The young children ran in the direction of her voice, laughing and cheering like all innocent children did. This had always brought a smile across her thin lips._

However, those days were well and truly behind them. Edea's children were tainted by harsh realities of the world. They have faced war, terror and their own interpersonal demons that have forever scarred the innocence that they once had as children. They would never get that back.

"Matron!" Selphie's high pitched voice called to the woman. She was running now, like a lost child who had finally found their mother. Launching off one foot, the petite woman threw her arms around Edea's neck and lifted her feet off the ground to hang off the older woman.

"Selphie," Edea said quietly and wrapped her own arms around Selphie's waist. "Nice to see you again, dear."

The young woman planted her feet on the ground and smiled at her. From behind, Irvine raised his arm at the same time that Edea raised hers.

"Now Selphie, you're a lot bigger than you were when you were a child. Don't you go hurtin' her."

Edea laughed as the cowboy walked to her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Still the charming one I see."

Irvine bowed like a gentleman before Selphie kicked him in his bare shin. He howled out in pain and gripped his injured shin.

"Yeah, charming," Selphie muttered.

Irvine stood back up after rubbing at his bare shin.

"Hey, that hurts more when you're wearin' shorts and you're legs are exposed."

"Take it like a man, cowgirl!"

Irvine swore under his breath, but luckily Edea didn't hear it as it was drowned out by Seifer's laughter and Quistis scolding him.

"I wish you would really stop with the names," Quistis continued. "Aren't we meant to be getting away from everything?"

Seifer stopped and laughed even harder.

"Oh come on, a little bit of fun doesn't hurt anyone."

Quistis sighed and knew that she was defeated. She looked towards Edea and smiled.

"How have you being Matron?" she asked and went up to embrace her foster mother, who held her back.

"I've been well my child," she replied. "Everything has been fine since this place re-opened two months ago."

About three months ago, Quistis and the others had decided that Edea shouldn't be living in ruins. So they took in their own hands to rebuild their childhood home to the way that they remember it. But after it was built, Edea thought it was time to re-open the place that many had decided to call home.

The two women separated and then Edea walked over to Seifer reached up to caress his jaw.

"I'm glad to see that you are well," she said with a smile before a look of concern overtook it. "But I sense there is something troubling you."

Seifer's eyes shot wide open. He knew with Quistis and everyone else around that he couldn't say anything, and he didn't want Edea to know, worried with what she would think of him.

Seifer gave her a reassuring smile.

"There's nothing wrong, everything is fine."

She nodded and smiled.

"Glad to hear it."

After she greeted everyone, Edea settled them all in the house and introduced them to the children that were there. The majority of the group stayed and entertained the children, in which Zell was used as a horse and gave them all rides. Squall and Rinoa sat out by the flower field where they made their promise to each other and Irvine helped Edea out the back to collect firewood for the fire.

But despite all of the happiness that the children have brought to the SeeD's dim life, there was one person who could not embrace that. Even though she deals with children everyday because of her job, that couldn't compare to what she thought of these children. While they kept their innocence, people like Quistis had lost theirs completely. Not only that, the fact that the war had left her barren was also playing on her mind.

She had always wanted children, but the damage done to her body was too great that she had to give hope of that. Because of this, she couldn't face those innocent young faces or otherwise she would become an emotional wreck. Instead, she decided to find solitude in the lighthouse where she had spent most her time as a child.

"Thought I find you here," that familiar mocking voice came from behind her. She glanced back and saw that tall man leaning up against the door frame, smirking at her and his exposed arms crossed against his chest. He walked towards her and sat down with a little bit of a struggle.

"Fuck, they really need to invent jeans that allow you to sit down more easily."

Seifer scanned his eyes up and down Quistis' bare legs, exposed by a pair of denim short shorts and instantly became jealous of how she could easily sit there. Quistis gave a small laugh and then went silent. They were like that for a while, gazing out at the clear blue ocean and enjoying each others company. The two of them hadn't had that for quite some time.

"I remember when I was a kid that I came up here a lot to be alone," Quistis said to break the silence and then looked over to Seifer.

Seifer smiled a little.

"Yeah, I suppose I could say the same thing." He turned to her now. "I used to sneak out of the orphanage at night to come here whenever I couldn't sleep."

Quistis smiled and looked back out.

"Yes, I remember you getting up and leaving as I was usually awake during that hour of the night. I never had been able to sleep very well."

Seifer looked back out as well.

"Oh really? So is that why you came up here one night?"

Her head snapped to look back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"So it was you that was standing outside the door? Why didn't you answer me?"

Seifer shrugged his shoulders.

"Because if I did, maybe then I would have been talking to some strange person and would have got attacked. Besides, I only assumed that no one would have been up here."

Her blue gaze went back out to stare out into the ocean. He looked at her for a while. He knew the reason why she had isolated herself up there, it was the same reason for him.

"We can't hide from them forever," Seifer finally said to break the silence. "Everyone will be wondering where we are."

Quistis sighed and stood up. Seifer looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

She turned around to leave.

"I'm going to meet everyone down at the beach," she replied. "Are you coming?"

She walked towards the door and Seifer jumped up and ran out after her.

* * *

"No! Stop this at once!" Selphie screamed loudly as Irvine and Zell carried her towards the water. "I promise that I will do anything that the two of you ask of me…anything!"

The two men stepped in the water and looked at each other.

"Anything?" They asked in unison.

Selphie nodded.

"Yes! Please, can you let me go?"

Irvine looked down and smiled.

"Well that does sound like a pretty good offer, but…"

He looked back up at Zell and motioned his head out. They swung the young brunette into the water.

"…I know what you're promises mean."

Both men laughed hard and the furious blur leaped out of the water onto her boyfriend and pinned him under the water. Irvine was trying to sit up for air, but Selphie was sitting on his chest.

"You bastard! Drown!"

Zell took a few steps back and when Irvine pointed towards Zell, Selphie's attention went towards him.

"You're dead Dincht!"

Zell jumped and looked around frantically.

"Oh shit!"

He bolted down the beach, but unfortunately he didn't get far when a gloved hand reached out and grabbed him. Zell was lifted off the ground and his legs were still pumping midair. He turned his head at the culprit and his eyes shot open.

"Squall!"

Squall smirked at him and looked over to Rinoa.

"What do you think I should do with him?"

Rinoa giggled and leaned up onto his shoulder and peered at Zell.

"Don't know, maybe we should let Selphie deal with him."

"Are you serious?" Zell exclaimed. "Please Squall! Have mercy!"

"Don't listen to him Squall!" Seifer's voice came from behind. Squall and Rinoa looked over and saw him and Quistis walking them hand in hand.

"Seifer!" Zell screamed.

"Zell, get your ass over here!" Selphie demanded and stopped in front of Squall. She looked at him and smiled. "Thank you Squall, but would you please do me the honour?"

Squall nodded and Zell couldn't believe what he was hearing. Squall then looked over to Seifer and as if he could read his mind, the tall blonde grabbed Zell's legs.

"Thought you'd never ask," Seifer mocked and smirked and looked down at Zell. "Time to fly, chicken."

Zell looked over to his girlfriend on the beach, who was trying to hold her laughter in along with Quistis and Rinoa.

"Come on, help me out here!"

Lisa laughed.

"Sorry Zell, but this is out of my control."

Zell looked up and closed his eyes. Squall and Seifer flung him out in one movement and Zell landed into the ocean with a big splash. He emerged, red-faced.

"Damn you all to hell! Fuck!"

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Anyone up for drowned chicken?" Seifer asked and wrapped an arm around Quistis' waist, who was laughing with the rest of them. She looked around and saw a dark figure nearby, smiling along with the rest of them. The two women gazed and smiled brightly at each other.

* * *

Edea was just glad too see all of them so happy, even if was at Zell's expense. It was breaking her heart witnessing what they had to go through during the war. When she was possessed she almost killed Squall, gave Rinoa her powers and comatosed her, sent Seifer to insanity by breaking him and started the sequence of events that nearly left everyone lost in Time Compression.

"Matron," Quistis' voice came from behind as Edea turned away. Edea smiled and turned back towards her.

"Why are you over here when you should be having fun with everyone else?"

Quistis peered over her shoulder to see everyone wrestling in the water.

"I can't at the moment, I have been placed on light duties for two weeks."

Edea shook her head.

"Oh well then, these things happen I suppose," she said and smiled. "I sense that something is troubling you."

The younger woman sighed and stared out into the ocean.

"Well, it's been awhile since we talked last and I explained those nightmares to you."

"Oh yes! You did mention that, how are they?"

The blonde woman sighed.

"Ok for now, but over the duration of the past few months they had occurred more frequently and drove me to the point of actually visualising what had happened eleven years ago."

Edea's eyes widened.

"You mean when…I'm so sorry to hear that Quistis, I guess that Ultimecia is still twisting everyone's memories. She still does to mine."

She reached her hand out then to the younger woman, who then looked at her.

"I'm sure that you won't be getting anymore like those, I believe for you the worst is over."

Quistis smiled and walked into Edea's arms, which were then wrapped around her. Despite everything that had happened between Edea and the group as a whole, they could always rely on Edea to give them comfort as she was, with the exception of Zell and Ellone, the only real mother they ever had. Even though Quistis was a hardened soldier on the outside, she was like the rest of them and needed a mother to let her know that everything was going to be ok.

"Hey Quisty!" Selphie's voice boomed from down the beach. The two women broke away and looked down and smiled.

"I think you have just been summoned," Edea said. "Maybe you should join them now, I think I better start on dinner and check on the children."

Quistis looked at her and nodded. She ran off down the beach and Edea smiled even more.

"She will be fine," Edea said to herself and continued to watch the blonde before looking at the rest of them. "I think they will all be fine."

She turned and headed up towards the staircase.

* * *

Laguna sat out on the balcony of his office, watching the sunrise over the city and glistened the red and blue crystal directly in his eyes. He raked a hand through his dark, unbound hair and yawned. Most people would usually still be sleeping at that hour, but Laguna had something on his mind.

He looked up into the sky and deeply sighed before closing his eyes. Of course he would be nervous, Squall was going to arrive later that day and the two of them hadn't spoken since Laguna revealed the truth.

_The two men were standing in the Secret Area when Laguna arrived at Balamb Garden unexpectedly. He was there on personal matters and not for business, as Squall had first thought. Squall leaned up against the railing and looked at the older man. _

"_What brings you here?" Squall asked casually. "Why couldn't we discuss this in my office?" _

_Laguna crossed his arms and gazed up into the sky._

"_Because, I didn't want us to be interrupted," he replied and joined the young man at the railing and looked out towards the great white building. "I bet this place would look really pretty at night time." _

_Squall nodded and looked out. The last time he was out there during night was the night he became a SeeD and gave the cold shoulder to Quistis after she explained her dismissal as an instructor. He hadn't even brought Rinoa out there._

"_Yeah, it is." _

_Laguna sighed and stood up straight._

"_Do you ever wonder what it would be like if you ever found your real family?" he asked and Squall looked over to him. "I have, I was brought up by a foster family until I decided to run away and joined the Galbadian army. But I didn't want that life." _

_Squall raised an eyebrow._

"_So why did you choose to join the army if you didn't like it?" _

_The older man gave a short laugh before continuing._

"_I guess there wasn't really anything at the time. You know that didn't really start to be fascinated in the world of journalism until I started travelling the globe," he explained. "But maybe travelling the globe also made me wonder about where I came from, who my real parents were."_

_Squall was about to say something, but Laguna kept going._

"_Were they honourable people? Did they have good values…? I do not know for that I have never found them." He turned to Squall. "That is why I brought you out here, to tell you this and to see whether if you are thinking the same way." _

_Squall placed a hand on his hip and looked down at the ground._

"…_I don't know. Maybe I never thought about it too much, Edea and Cid never mentioned them." He looked up at Laguna. "Why do you want to find out? Did you know them?" _

_Laguna sighed and looked back out._

"_Squall, this isn't easy to say as I haven't thought about her in about eighteen years, but…I knew your mother." _

_Squall's eyes widened._

"_Is…is she alive?" _

_Laguna shook his head._

"_No, she died shortly after you were born. I didn't know about it as I was out looking for Ellone after she was kidnapped by Adel." _

_Squall grabbed Laguna's arm and gripped it._

"…_Did you know my father?" _

_Laguna nodded and looked down._

"_Yes…haven't you figured it out already…" _

_Squall dropped his arm and bowed his head. It all made perfect sense. The dreams that Ellone gave him of Laguna's past…of Raine, Laguna and Ellone being together…they were his family and…Raine was his mother and Laguna was…_

"_No…" Squall spoke and took a few steps back and Laguna turned to him fully._

"_It's true, Squall," Laguna said. "Squall, I'm your father." _

_Squall was at the entrance at that time and looked back at his father._

"_Why didn't you come back for me?" _

_Laguna took a few steps forward._

"_Because, I didn't know about you until I was in Esthar and I couldn't leave as I just couldn't abandon the people that made me their leader."_

_Squall gripped the sides of his head. He just wanted to scream, not like it would do anything._

"_So it was alright to abandon your family?" _

"_Squall…"_

"_No! I…I won't have it!" _

_Squall turned and ran out, leaving his father on the balcony on his own. Laguna then felt his leg cramp up and he gripped it._

"_Well, at least the worst is over," he said to no one in particular and looked back out. "Hopefully he'll cool down over it." _

The thing was, the two of them hadn't talked since that day. Every time there was a worldwide conference, Squall would always decline knowing that his father would be there and send either Seifer or Quistis to go with Xu.

"Laguna."

The president turned around to the voice behind him. His green gaze focussed on Kiros and Ward standing at the doorway. Laguna smiled shyly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey guys, what's crackin'?"

Kiros cleared his throat.

"They're here. They are waiting in the reception room."

Laguna spun around and bowed his head.

"…When did they get here?"

"We received a call from Quistis Trepe this morning requesting an airship as they were down at Edea's orphanage." He heard Kiros leave, but the dark man stopped. "You better not keep them waiting."

The two men left and Laguna was left to his thoughts.

'Best not to delay the inevitable.'

He turned around and walked out.

* * *

The group of young SeeD's sat around the various spots of the reception room. Squall, Irvine and Seifer were in one spot, talking about random things to do with combat. The girls were sitting around and discussing their significant others and Zell was already executing his power of getting free service from the various staff of the Presidential Palace.

"Look at him!" Selphie exclaimed and then looked back at them. "He is an absolute pig!"

The rest of them laughed and then settled themselves back down.

"Well that's Zell for you," Quistis said and peered over Selphie's shoulder to see the young man in question scoffing down his eleventh hot dog. "No matter how much we try, we can't change who he is."

Selphie snapped her head around and stomped her feet in protest.

"Oh! But it's those damned hot dogs! He's gonna give himself a cardiac episode if he keeps going!"

Rinoa grabbed her friend's arm and sat her down.

"Keep your voice down or otherwise he's going to hear us!" Rinoa hushed and looked around the group. "We need a plan."

Lisa nodded.

"I have to agree with Rinoa on this, we can't just jump into the issue."

Quistis stood up and smirked towards Zell. The girls knew that particular smirk as she used it on Seifer numerous times whenever she was up to something. It was a dangerous one.

"You have a plan, don't you?" Selphie asked, looking up at the blonde. Quistis looked down and continued to smirk.

"We're going to make a bet," she explained. "We're going to make Zell give up hot dogs for the next two months. If he can do that, he is allowed to have some."

The other three smiled and giggled. Now they knew why Quistis was such a good diplomat, because she can easily come up with a logical solution to a problem and there was really no point in arguing with her. Maybe that's why Seifer occasionally gets pissed off at her as he rarely wins an argument with her, usually if he does it would be done in an unfair way and the dorm would be a mess after their bodies slam into everything. Anger, love and frustration are a good combination in the bedroom.

"Well then, I agree with that," Lisa said and looked back over to Zell. "Let's tell him tonight."

The others nodded and the room went silent as the door opened. Laguna, Kiros and Ward all walked in together, smiling as they saw the young mercenaries approach them. Of course, since Selphie was such a big fan she ran up and jumped at Laguna.

"Sir Laguna! It's great to see you again!"

He returned the embrace and lowered her to the ground so she could stand up. Laguna held her hands and widely smiled.

"Selphie! It's a pleasure to see you again," he said and looked up at Irvine. "Good to see you again Irvine."

The two men shook hands and Irvine nodded.

"Same to you Laguna," the cowboy replied and wrapped an arm around Selphie's shoulders. "Sorry 'bout my girl here, kinda hyperactive these days."

Laguna laughed and shook his head.

"That's fine, she's good girl and lucky to have a man like you."

The young couple blushed and went over to Kiros and Ward and greeted them. Zell went over next and introduced Lisa to the president, who she happened to call Laguna 'Mr. President.'

"Please, call me Laguna. There is no need for formalities around here."

The young woman blushed and joined her boyfriend to meet Ward and Kiros. Seifer and Quistis went over and stood in front of the president.

"Miss Trepe, it's an honour to see you again," Laguna said and grabbed her hand and planted a kiss on the back of it. Seifer's stomach knotted as he tried to contain his rage.

"Likewise to you as well Laguna, glad to see that you are so well."

Seifer closed his eyes.

"There's nothing to feel threatened about, it was just a greeting,' he thought and then laughed. 'Look at him, he hasn't changed his wardrobe!'

It was true, Laguna was wearing his usual light blue buttoned shirt and tan trousers. Seifer was beginning to think that the man hasn't got anything else to wear. Quistis noticed Seifer laughing and then nudged him in the ribs to get him to regain composure.

"How have you been Seifer?"

Seifer looked at him and took the hand Laguna offered out. He was still trying to contain his laughter.

"I'm good, just busy with office work as I have been on light duties."

Laguna nodded.

"I know, Quistis told me over the phone a while ago."

Seifer looked to her.

"Did she now?"

Quistis blushed and looked away from his gaze.

"She's a fine woman, don't ever let her go."

Seifer's eyes widened, his thoughts went back to the other night. Indeed, Quistis was a fine woman and it was killing him inside to be around her. Seifer snapped of his thoughts they both joined the other four to see Kiros and Ward.

"Laguna!" Rinoa said excitedly and threw her arms around Laguna. He hugged her back and then pulled back and held her at arms length to observe her.

"My, my," he wondered and then smiled at her. "You are looking more and more like your mother every time I see you."

She blushed and Squall placed hand on her shoulder. Laguna let go and looked Squall in the eye. Neither of the two men could find some way to greet each other except for…

"Squall."

Squall nodded.

"Laguna."

Rinoa's eyes widened at Squall's casual approach to his father. He walked away and took Rinoa with him. If he thought that everyone was going to forget it had happened, then he thought wrong.

Later that day, after the group took a tour of the city to look at the new features. They were allocated rooms in the palace, courtesy of Laguna and they were entitled to all facilities and the services that the palace offered. Everyone, even Squall, went to dine with Laguna, Kiros and Ward. As general conversation commenced after the meals, Squall left without saying a word. He went out to the balcony of his room and leaned forward on the railing. He didn't want be in the same room as the man that had abandoned him long time ago as it was awkward for him.

If Laguna was going to try to start anew with him, then he better think again, according to the young man that stood out on the balcony on his own. But it was soon apparent that no one was going to let this go, he didn't have the right to get up and leave without being excused and there was only one person that can speak some sense into him as she had done so before in the past.

"Thought I would find you out here."

Squall sighed and rolled his eyes at the voice. He knew that he had to get her out of there before she could tell him off. Quistis walked through the doorway and stood nearby and leaned up against the railing.

"Would you mind telling me what's going on in that head of yours?"

Squall shook his head and knew that she wasn't going to let this slide. He turned his head towards her.

"Why are you out here?" he asked coldly.

Quistis scoffed and turned to him, holding her arms out.

"Exactly this! You're attitude is why I'm out here," she replied exasperated. "Rinoa wanted to come out, but I said that it wouldn't be a good idea as we both knew that she couldn't get the truth out."

Squall looked back down.

"There's nothing to say," he said and pointed towards the door. "If you're done, you know you're way out."

The red clad blonde was expecting this. She had experienced it with him before and she wasn't prepared to make the same mistake again. She reached down and pulled off the red high heels that she was wearing and then stood up straight. Squall hadn't turned back around, which was good to her advantage, but he wasn't prepared for what she did next.

Quistis reached out and wrapped an arm around Squall's throat and then threw him down onto the ground so that he landed on his front. She reached up the slit of her red dress, while keeping the struggling man on the ground and then pulled out Save the Queen from her thigh and tied his wrists together. She then dug her knee into the middle of his back and wrapped the remainder of the whip around his shoulders and then gripped both sides and arched his back. It was a very uncomfortable position for him, but enjoyable for his former instructor.

"What the fuck are you playing at Quistis?" Squall snarled and the blonde pulled him further back and he refrained himself to scream even more.

"Something that I should have done a long time ago," she said. "Obviously trying to talk to you isn't going to work, so I'm going for a different approach."

Squall kicked his legs out, but even Quistis' strength was too much for him as she increased the pressure.

"Now, I'm going to let you go as soon as you listen to what I have to say and you better do as I tell you or otherwise you will be in a wheelchair, got it?"

Squall painfully nodded, he didn't care about what she had to say, but the agony was killing him.

"Ok then, Laguna is your father and you will have you accept that," she stated slowly. "Which will involve you talking to him and sorting out your differences and to gain closure for whatever Hyne damned problems you have with him."

Quistis leaned down to his ear and whispered.

"Because if you don't." She jerked him back a bit and made him wince. "Then I'm going pay you another visit, and I might have you bring Seifer along to knock some sense into you. Do you fucking get it now? Because I don't give a shit about any excuse you may have."

Squall closed his eyes and nodded.

"Good."

She got up and Squall laid flat on the ground again. Quistis knelt down and untied him. Squall painfully held his back and got up slowly and the two of them exchanged glances. Quistis pointed to the door.

"Laguna should be in his quarters now." She narrowed her eyes. "You better get going. I'll be watching to see whether if you heard a fucking word that I have said to you. Now stop being a rude asshole and sort this out."

Squall walked past her without a word and Quistis looked out the balcony and smiled at herself and what she achieved.

"I can't believe I just did that," she said quietly. "Maybe I should explain myself in the morning and tell him it was just to get him to see some sense. I bet that Seifer would get a laugh out of this…maybe I should do this to him to get him into line."

Contempt with herself, she reattached her whip to her thigh and walked out.

_

* * *

_

_Knock…Knock…_

Laguna lifted his head up from the stack of papers in front of him and looked at the door. He only just got back from the dinner and wasn't expecting anyone, especially at that hour. He got up and walked over.

'It's just probably the guys,' he thought and opened the door. The smile on his face went as he saw who it was. 'I sure wasn't expecting this.'

Squall stood there, his head bowed and arms crossed.

"Squall, what can I do for you?"

Squall didn't look up.

"We need to talk."

Laguna nodded and stood to the side. Squall looked forward and walked in. The door closed behind him and Squall scanned around the massive, circular room that was draped with artwork from world famous painters and artists and music of Rinoa's mother playing from a recording filled the atmosphere.

"What brings you here Squall? Obviously something is troubling you."

Squall sighed and looked back down.

"I'm sorry for the way I left earlier," he managed to say after a while and then looked up. "It is just awkward to be in the same room as you, just as we are now."

Laguna walked to a nearby window and looked out with his hands behind his back.

"You know what, I can't blame you for what you think of me," he said and looked at his son. "But, we need to accept this as the new reality or we will find it to get past it later on in life."

Squall nodded and looked away.

"Why did you abandon me? I was only a small child."

Laguna sighed and looked down.

"I didn't even know that Raine gave birth when I was out searching for Ellone until after I was elected Esthar's leader. I couldn't just back out, especially after all that I had done for these people," he explained and looked back up. "If I wasn't elected, then I would have come back and raised you. But I guess I got too busy that I forgot all about it."

He drew a breath and then continued.

"And it wasn't until that day a couple of years ago that those thoughts came back to me. Upon seeing that your eyes resembled those of your mother's, it had then made perfect sense to me. That is also probably why Ellone kept on sending you back to view my past up until the time I rescued Ellone."

Squall looked down and Laguna walked over to him, placing a shaky hand on the young SeeD's shoulder.

"Now you know my side of things, you can now make your decision. If you want me in your life personally, then by all means do so. But if you don't, we will keep it strictly professional."

Squall looked up and nodded.

"…I need some time to think."

Laguna nodded and lowered his hand.

"Go right ahead. I will give you some time to do so."

Without saying another word, Squall turned and headed out the door. Laguna sighed and walked over to collapse on his bed, instantly falling asleep.

* * *

A/N: That should teach Squall to stop being so cold towards his own father, even it was by force. But what a turn around for the two of them. The start of the next chapter should show whether Squall had really taken on board what Quistis and Laguna had told him. Keep reading! Next chapter: It's a week later and the young SeeD's leave Esthar and arrive in Trabia to end their vacation. But of course it is going to take an unexpected turn after they all have some fun in the snow.


	10. Snowy Adventure

A/N: It's been a long time since I updated, but here is the latest chapter. It maybe implied that this chapter is humor, but read on and there will be something happening to one of the major characters. Well then, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Ten: Snowy Adventure**

The two young SeeD's were running through the corridor, and it was no coincidence that it was Irvine and Zell. By the way they were smiling, they were up to no good. Everyone was asleep and it was only one in the morning.

They eventually reached their destination and Irvine pressed his ear against the door, no sound. He grinned widely and Zell done the same, it was show time.

"Have you still got it?" Zell asked. The cowboy nodded and reached inside his trench coat and pulled out a brown paper bag and placed it in front of the door. Zell laughed and opened it.

"I cannot believe we managed to get a hold of some firecrackers!"

Irvine gave him a small kick to hush him a little and then passed over a lighter.

"Man, are they gonna be pissed at us or what?"

Zell made no hesitation and touched the wire with the flame and ignited it. He got up and the two men ran down the hall.

"3..2...1!" They both counted out loud and the firecrackers went off like gunshots that echoed from behind them. They stopped and laughed, completely unaware that the one person that they were hoping to be in that room was standing behind them.

"Fucking Hyne!" A man's voice boomed from the room.

Irvine and Zell laughed even harder until a soft, mocking drawl came from behind.

"Evening boys, didn't expect you to be out here."

They both stiffened and cursed inwardly. The two of them turned around and knew that they were completely screwed. Quistis smirked down at them and shook her head.

"Why are the two of you out here at this hour?"

Irvine was trying to explain himself, but was unable to find the words and Zell was in the same boat as Irvine. However, their eyes widened when Quistis reached up the slit of her dress and pulled out her trusty weapon.

'Three in one night,' she thought evilly. 'This has to be a new record.'

Zell got onto his knees, his hands clasped together.

"Oh please Quisty! We'll do anything you want, just don't kill us!"

Irvine laughed and Quistis snapped her attention at him.

"Lighten up Zelly boy! There's nothin' like a good whippin', is there?"

He winked at Quistis and she laughed, but it didn't mean that they were off the hook.

"Now, I can't do to you what I did to Squall earlier," she said and then crossed her arms. "Oh no, I think this calls for something more extreme."

The two men looked at each other and swallowed. It was obvious that the blonde in front of them was not in the mood for excuses and was coming off a confrontation with Squall.

She looked down at Zell signalled him to stand up. He complied and Quistis motioned for them to follow her, back down towards her room.

They reached their destination. Zell was praying for some miracle from Hyne to come his way and Irvine...being Irvine was curious to what the blonde in front of them was planning. Quistis leaned up against the rail against the glass wall and smirked at the two men in front of her.

"Ok, take off your clothes," she ordered after a while. Their eyes widened.

"What? Right here?" They questioned in unison. Quistis uncoiled her whip and gave it a crack. The two men jumped and held their hands up.

"Trust me, the two of you are in no position to argue with me at the moment."

Irvine and Zell both knew that she was right and they bowed their heads in defeat. But that didn't matter to Irvine too much as he began to strip. Zell looked at him and smacked him across the arm.

"What do you think you're doin'?"

Irvine slapped his friend over the head.

"Givin' what this pretty lady wants," Irvine replied and stopped midway of undoing his belt and stared at him. "Maybe you should be doin' the same as well."

Zell gave a disgruntled groan and complied. The blonde in front of them smiled at their cooperation and knew that she had finally outdone herself.

'Hmm, maybe I should do this to Seifer to keep him in line.'

The two men stood up straight, fully naked except for Irvine's cowboy hat on his head. She looked at them from head to toe and smiled.

"Ok then, this is going to be the interesting part…"

A few minutes later, Quistis had finally finished tying them together. Zell was on all fours and Irvine was hunched over from behind so that his chin was resting on Zell's head. Zell's feet and ankles were tied around Irvine's thighs and neither of them could move. Quistis stood back and laughed. She opened her door and popped her head in and noticed that Seifer was still awake.

"Seifer, I have caught the culprits," she called to him. "You better come here and bring the camera."

Irvine and Zell's eyes widened at the mention of the camera and Seifer emerged by Quistis' side in nothing but his black boxers. He instantly broke out in laughter and threw an arm out onto Quistis' shoulder.

"Oh man! This is too good to be true!"

Seifer stood up straight and held the camera up, hitting the record button.

"Can't wait to put this all over the Garden network." He looked down at Quistis. "Damn you are good."

Irvine and Zell went red, very quickly.

"Ok, is it possible that you could let us free?" Irvine asked. "You've had you're revenge."

The blondes looked at him. Quistis smirked and shook her head.

"No way cowboy, this only the beginning," she replied and looked up to Seifer and placed a finger on his chest and grinned at him flirtatiously. "You know that we're still on vacation, if you catch my drift…"

Seifer instantly caught onto what she was implying and felt himself strain. He grabbed her hand and looked down at the two men.

"Well then boys, enjoy the show."

He pulled her into the room and the door slammed shut. Next, a series of loud moans and groans were heard by the two naked men. Zell closed his eyes and tried in vein to drown out the sounds, while Irvine was listening very intently to what was going on behind the doors.

"I don't think I'm gonna last…" Zell began until he felt 'something' uncomfortable from behind him. "Irvine! Can't you control yourself for five minutes?"

Irvine chuckled.

"Oh come on! What they're doin' in there is the only thin' that is keepin' my mind off the situation."

Zell closed his eyes again.

'At least we know now not to pull a stunt like that again,' he thought and then looked towards the door once he heard silence. 'I think they're done…'

"Hmm…Seifer…again," Quistis moaned and Zell sighed.

"Apparently not.'

* * *

Steel blue eyes stirred from his deep slumber as the sun shone through the window, plus the pain in his back wasn't helping much. Squall looked down at Rinoa who was sleeping soundly in the crook of his arm, he smiled at her.

'Remind me to never get onto Quistis' bad side ever again.'

He buried his head into the softness of her hair and thought about his encounter with Laguna.

'Maybe it's time to bury the hatchet, I can't run away from it. He is my father whether if I like it or not, and at least he's trying to make amends.'

"Squall! Rinoa!" Selphie's voice made him roll his eyes. "You two better get out of bed and check this out!"

Rinoa stirred a little as Squall's head slumped against the pillow. She giggled a little and sat up, she looked down and admired Squall's well-toned body for a moment before getting out, grabbing her robe and threw it on. Squall heard laughter from out of the corridor and sat up.

"What the hell?"

He threw his legs over the side and pulled on his black pants before he and Rinoa ran over to the door and pulled it open. The laughter was coming from down the corridor.

"Hey, I think that's coming from Quistis and Seifer's room," Rinoa said and took off down the corridor with Squall in tow.

The laughter grew louder and they weren't prepared for they saw next. Rinoa cracked it and buried her head into Squall's chest as he shook his head and slapped his forehead. Irvine and Zell were on the ground just as they were the night before and various staff of the palace were gawking at the scene. Selphie held her camcorder at the two men and laughed in her high-pitched giggle, Lisa was red in the face, Seifer and Quistis were leaning up against their doorframe to keep themselves standing. But what everyone, except for Squall, didn't notice was that they were tied up with a whip. He looked directly across at Quistis and grinned at her, and she noticed this and grinned back.

'You are full of surprises, aren't you?' he thought.

"Can you let us out now?" Zell asked. "Please have mercy."

Seifer casually walked over and knelt down.

"Maybe another hour and we will consider it."

Zell looked over frantically to Squall.

"Quistis tied us up just because we played a prank on them, then we had to listen to them 'do it' all night!"

Seifer stood up and smirked.

"You loved every minute of it."

Zell growled and pointed back at Irvine.

"And this perverted person behind me wasn't helping the situation."

With that, Zell lost balance and the SeeD's fell forward, Irvine's body was completely covering Zell's. Everyone laughed even harder. Squall looked back over to Quistis.

"I think that they have learned their lesson."

She nodded and walked over to them and untied them.

They stood up and looked around, covering themselves up.

"Where are our clothes?" Irvine asked.

Seifer laughed.

"Oh, we had to put them in the most secure location around here," he mocked and their eyes shot wide open. "They're in Laguna's office, in which of a matter of fact is occupied by Laguna and a few of the top ranked officials of the city."

They bolted down the hallway, with Selphie chasing them with her camcorder. Quistis and Seifer walked into their room and closed the door. Lisa walked back down towards her room, leaving Squall and Rinoa alone.

"Well…that was interesting," Rinoa said. "Never get onto the wrong side of her."

Squall nodded.

"I know the feeling," he said and he noticed her glancing up at him. "Don't worry, she didn't hurt me too much."

Rinoa giggled.

"What did you do?"

Squall shrugged.

"Just about Laguna, convincing me to bury the hatchet."

Rinoa nodded and walked away.

"You know that she's right," she called back. Rinoa disappeared around the corner and Squall shortly went after her.

* * *

Laguna stood outside the air station, arms crossed behind his back and smiling into the sun. As always, it was a beautiful day and it was the best way to send off guests in his opinion. He looked down upon hearing footsteps, and discussion amongst the young group of SeeD's.

"I hope those two will hurry up and get here," Quistis continued on the conversation as they stopped in front of Laguna. They dropped their bags. "How did they manage to get away from us in the first place?"

Seifer snickered.

"Knowing those two, they would…"

"Stop right there!" Zell demanded, covering his ears. "We don't really need to know what those two get up to!"

Laguna raised an eyebrow and looked around. Everyone was there, except for…

"Hey, I thought you had two more," he said.

Quistis sighed and shook her head.

"Yes, Irvine and Selphie have mysteriously 'disappeared'."

Laguna laughed lightly.

"Well what can you do? They're young and in love."

"Yeah, but there's love and there's 'love'," Zell stated and caught the attention of Seifer.

"Yeah, like you would know what the difference is…"

Zell snapped his head at him.

"Fuck you asshole…"

"Hey!"

Everyone looked over down the road and rolled their eyes. Selphie and Irvine were running down towards them, bags in hand and when they neared, they were about to crash into the waiting group.

"Where in Hyne's name were you?" Rinoa queried in a stern manner. "We're meant to be leaving in ten minutes!"

Irvine and Selphie tried to regain breath.

"Sorry Rin…everyone," Selphie replied. "But Irvy here had to do something while we were still here."

Seifer rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I wonder what that could be," he muttered before Quistis elbowed him. Selphie looked at them.

"What was that?"

Quistis waved her hand.

"Nothing, please continue."

Irvine cleared his throat.

"Anyway, what Sefie was trying to say was that because we're heading up to Trabia and we were just going to camp up there for the whole week and had no other plans," he explained. "That maybe some representatives from Garden could meet us up there, with some snowboards and other things."

Everyone gasped in surprise. They were all about to say something, but Irvine continued.

"But that's not all. I have secured a spot where there are some cabins in the mountains, which means that we don't need to camp out in the freezing cold."

At that point, no one could find the words to speak their thoughts. Just when they were getting the wrong idea…

"That's great!" Zell said and ran up and hugged the two of them. "I'm forever in your debt."

Everyone, including Laguna, laughed. He looked around the group until his eyes finally rested on Squall, who was laughing with them. He smiled and Squall noticed his father's gaze. To Laguna's astonishment, Squall smiled back too. Perhaps it was going to be a new beginning for the two of them.

Just as Squall was following the others through the terminal, he stopped in front of Laguna gave a curt nod.

"Well, I guess I have finally accepted the situation," he said. "But now we just need to build toward the future and forget the past."

Laguna nodded.

"I think that it is the best thing to do."

The two men gave each other one last smile before they went their separate directions.

* * *

A strong wind was blowing fiercely across the snowy summit of Trabia's highest mountain. But the wind wasn't about to break the will of the ice maiden who rested there. Shiva's eyes popped open as an unfamiliar shiver ran up her spine, but it wasn't from the cold.

She gazed around, no one was in sight. The creepy voice of her mistress began to speak to her in Shiva's mind.

'They're coming, my young queen,' the voice said to her.

Shiva nodded.

'Yes my mistress,' she replied. 'I will deal with them myself.'

'No, I need that girl alive to transfer into. As for the others, kill them once this is done.'

Shiva sighed and closed her eyes.

'As you please, Ultimecia.'

* * *

"Woohoo!" Zell and Selphie screamed out and ran past everyone when they saw the cabins. Everyone continued to walk towards them, and Irvine had ended up carrying two extra bags of luggage.

Zell and Selphie were still running, pushing and shoving at each other. Selphie was ahead until Zell reached forward and pulled her leg, making her fall with her face in the snow. Zell grinned and looked back until…

"Oi chicken wuss! Your shoelaces are undone!" Seifer called out. Zell narrowed his eyes and looked down at his feet.

"They're not undone." He looked back at Seifer. "Nice try asshole!"

Seifer snickered.

"Hey chicken wuss! Pole!"

"Pole?" He looked back in front of him and then before he could process it. "Shit!"

With a loud bang, Zell ran front on with the pole and fell back into the snow. He gripped his head and cried out in pain as everyone laughed, the loudest was Selphie who reached a cabin that was more separate from the main group of cabins.

"Looks like we've called this one Zell," Selphie gloated and looked over at Irvine and winked. She turned around and opened the door. The cowboy got the message and…

"Oh I knew why I love that woman for a reason!" He pushed through everyone and ran into the cabin, shutting the door behind him and almost breaking the hinges.

Everyone sighed and rolled their eyes. Quistis turned back to the group and looked around.

"I guess that we'll sort ourselves into the remaining three," she said and then looked at Seifer. "We've got the next one!"

Quistis took off, leaving Seifer to laugh at his ex-instructor and he grinned.

"Well, best to be off to control that one."

He ran off and Squall shook his head. Rinoa latched onto his arm and the two of them walked off, leaving Zell on the ground and Lisa helping him.

"You really need to watch where you're going," she said, trying to support him.

Zell groaned and struggled onto his feet.

"Tell that to Seifer…"

She laughed and once Zell was up onto his feet they both walked hand in hand in the same direction as Squall and Rinoa.

Later that night, everyone gathered in Seifer and Quistis' cabin. Several beer bottles were scattered within the room, as they were playing 'I've never.' Most of them were feeling the effects of the alcohol.

"Ok, ok! I have a good one!" Selphie announced and placed a hand on her chin. "I've never been tied up to another person naked and left there overnight."

Zell and Irvine's eyes grew wide as everyone laughed and they each took a drink. Irvine looked at her dangerously, but she ignored it.

"Ok then…" Irvine began. "I've never done it in the Secret Area."

Seifer and Quistis grew red and took a drink. Seifer slammed the bottle down, smashing it in the process.

"Real funny cowboy," he retorted and then held up a camera. "I have a little movie to show everyone."

He got up and walked over to the video player and hooked up some cables and connected the camera. He switched on the television and pressed play on the camera. Everyone's jaw dropped as the two images emerged as Irvine and Zell on the floor. Everyone except for Zell and Irvine laughed as they saw the two young men in the flesh. The image soon turned away from them when Quistis stopped talking and entered a room. The camera was placed onto a table as soon as Quistis jumped onto the bed and Seifer climbed on top of her…groans and moans soon followed for a full five to ten minutes afterwards.

"Whoa! What the hell?" Zell turned away, along with Lisa. Rinoa and Selphie giggled, Squall shook his head and Irvine just grinned and enjoying the whole show.

"Wow, you should have had us in the room with you," Irvine said before Selphie reached over and pinched his ear."

"What was that?" she asked in a dangerous tone.

"Nothing," Irvine whimpered before she released him.

Quistis went bright red and slapped her forehead.

"You left the camera on. Just perfect."

Seifer reached over to the camera and flicked it off. The image disappeared and he looked around at everyone.

"Uh…I think we might go now," Rinoa suggested and looked at Squall. "What do you think?"

Squall looked at her and nodded.

"Good idea, I need some…uh…sleep."

He and Rinoa got up and left. Zell and Lisa got up as well and without saying a word the two of them rushed out of the cabin. As for the remaining couple in the room…

"Well that was weird," Selphie said, looking at the door. "They all seem to be in a big hurry after seeing that."

Irvine looked around, and then down at himself in which he stood up and did up his coat.

"Well then, we better get a move on. Thanks for the evening guys," he said and helped Selphie up.

Quistis looked at them and walked them to the door.

"That's okay, I think next time I might have to select the movie," she replied, looking in Seifer's direction. He held his hands up and then the door closed.

"Well how was I to know that the camera was left on?" Seifer defended. "It's not like I meant for it to happen."

Quistis sighed and shook her head, she walked up to him and placed a finger on his chest.

"What am I ever going to do with you?" she asked in a much softer tone.

Seifer smirked and placed his hands on her hips.

"Anything you want."

Quistis smirked and pushed him back and made her way to the bedroom.

"Don't expect to be getting anything from me for a while after that," she called back to him and Seifer's smirk went away.

'Damn, I guess I'll be the only unlucky guy tonight,' he thought and followed her.

_

* * *

_

_Fithos…Lusec…Wecos…Vinosec…_

"_Kurse all SeeD's…Destroy them all…"_

"…_I can't…they're my friends…" Rinoa replied. "Why are you doing this to me?"_

_Ultimecia laughed._

"_Don't you see, you're chosen. The other two wouldn't have worked, especially that hyperactive girl."_

"_But what about Quistis? She's more competent than me in magic."_

_Her hollow laugh came again._

"_Hmm…indeed, but she was too closely connected to my knight."_

"_But I was with him for a short…"_

"_Yes, but unlike you she had shared something special with him. Don't you see…you and that knight of yours can be more powerful than you could even imagine. All that I'm asking you is…"_

"Hey! Snowball!" Selphie called out and hurled a snowball at a sleeping Rinoa. She woke up suddenly and saw Selphie at the door, holding another snowball.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Selphie threw another snowball at the young woman.

"Squall wanted me to get you up, so I figured that throwing snowballs was a good idea."

"Dammit Selphie, he wouldn't want you to get me up that way."

Selphie giggled.

"Come on, Seifer and Zell are out snowboarding and everyone else is just outside."

The raven haired woman slumped back onto her pillow, sighing deeply until she realised. Selphie had the door wide open and it was freezing outside.

"Selphie! Can you please get out, you're letting all of the cold air in!"

The petite woman giggled and ran out, shutting the door as Rinoa slumped back down and sighed. It was supposed to be a holiday and she wanted to sleep in.

* * *

Up in the mountains, Irvine was knelt on the ground behind a tree. He was interested in the two figures coming down the mountain, and the smirk on his face was dangerous. He chuckled as he picked up another handful of snowball and with his already numbed hands he managed to round it into a perfect snowball. Actually, it wasn't just his idea alone. Both Irvine and Zell had planned it since they arrived four days previous, they wanted revenge for the incident in Esthar even thought it wasn't the ex-knight's idea.

"_Ok, I'll take him up in the mountains and we'll snowboard down," Zell mentioned and pointed at Irvine. "You can get a good vantage point and as we go past…pummel him!" _

_Irvine nodded and smirked. He began to feel the taste of vengeance in his mouth. There was no way that they were about to fail this, just like their last plan. _

"_But just for the record, why are we after Seifer?" Irvine questioned. "Wasn't it Quistis who tied us together?" _

_Zell shook his head and crossed his arms. _

"_But it's Seifer remember? Ex-sorceress' lapdog, current commander of SeeD…"_

_The cowboy raised his hands. _

"_Fair point," he said and pointed back toward his cabin. "Better get back before Selphie has my head."_

_Zell rolled his eyes._

'And this time I will not fail,' Irvine thought and picked up a snowball and looked back up the slope.

He raised his arm as he began to hear for the voices of Seifer and Zell and grinned widely. Just as he was within shooting range, he felt sleepy.

'What the…?'

The cowboy fell forward into the snow as an icy cold sensation filled his body. The snowball rolled out of his hand and his body became limp and lifeless. Shiva smiled at her handy work and looked ahead.

'Now to stop the knight and his friend.'

* * *

Zell flew down past the vantage point, closely followed by Seifer. However, the martial artist felt something was wrong and he turned his board, sliding to a stop and Seifer followed suit. Zell looked back up the slope and saw nothing.

"What's wrong chicken wuss?" Seifer asked. "Why did we stop?"

Zell looked over at him briefly and looked back up slope.

"Something doesn't feel right here," he said and then looked at the ex-knight. "Maybe we should look around the area."

He unclipped himself from the board and walked in the direction of the trees. There was nothing but silence, the only sound made was from the gentle breeze coming down the mountain. It was an eerie sensation. It didn't take long for Zell to come across the thing that drained the colour out of his face.

Irvine was face down in the snow, limp and lifeless. Seifer ran up behind Zell and he was just as shocked as he saw a friend on the ground like that. However, there was danger afoot and it wasn't time to panic. They had to take action and Seifer had indicated that by pulling out his trusty Hyperion and pressed his back against Zell's.

"Something is obviously out here," he stated and held his gunblade out. "C'mon ya coward! Show yourself!"

Suddenly there was a gust of wind that was fierce, and they were caught right in the middle of it. Seifer held up his sword to try and deflect some of the wind off his face. But no matter how much they tried, the gust was too strong and they were swept off their feet.

* * *

The disturbance wasn't just experienced by the two men. Down at the camp, Rinoa was walking around with Squall and Quistis. Selphie and Lisa were in Selphie's cabin gossiping and Quistis didn't want to partake and Rinoa just wanted to be with Squall. The other two continued to walk and talk about Garden business, she stopped and held her head as a sharp pain went through her. Since she became a sorceress, Rinoa had also gained the ability to detect any disturbances around the area that she was in. And the painful sensation told her it wasn't good. Squall and Quistis had noticed Rinoa disappearing from their side and they stopped to look at her. Squall rushed over, followed by Quistis, and they each paced a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong Rinoa?" Squall asked. The raven haired woman looked up at the two of them.

"I think…I think Irvine, Seifer and Zell are in trouble."

Quistis and Squall looked at each other and nodded. They knew to expect something like that to happen up there. The three of them pulled out their weapons and headed up the mountain.

* * *

"Ugh…" Seifer moaned as he awoke. "What the hell happened?"

"My knight…" A familiar voice drawled. Seifer couldn't believe he was hearing it. "…It has been too long."

Seifer slowly sat up and grabbed his weapon. He had pain running up and down his spine from the cold air and his eyes widened at the sight in front of him. Shiva hovered nearby, over Zell's unconscious body. She caught Seifer looking and laughed.

"Such a poor boy, couldn't handle a little bit of wind…" she mocked. "But I see that you are no longer weak."

He was about to retort until she continued.

"As you can see, I have taken over this GF's body. In search for the one that took my powers in the first place."

Seifer gritted his rage. Now it was all coming together. She never wanted to control the GF's to destroy the world, she wanted Rinoa.

"…You bitch!" Seifer swore and stood up. "You will never lay your hands on her!"

Shiva-Ultimecia laughed and shook her head.

"You were never worthy of being my knight…No! Maybe I should have picked Leonhart or even that blonde haired girl that witnessed your descent into darkness.

Seifer's eyes widened. He didn't want anyone or anything getting their hands on Quistis, or anyone else for that matter. If that happened…well he didn't really want to imagine what it would be like if that happened.

"It would be a cold day in hell before you would even consider laying your hands on them," Seifer threatened and pointed Hyperion at his enemy. "And I will personally see to that it will never happen…"

"Seifer!"

He didn't turn away, but continued to lock gazes with the ice princess. Her frosty gaze moved away from him as she looked around at Quistis, Save the Queen was held tightly in her grip and ready for the offence. Squall held his gunblade out and then to Rinoa, who was ready for action.

"Shiva…" Quistis said under her breath, to acknowledge her former GF. She was hating the fact that she would have to kill the very thing that protected her since she had first arrived at Balamb Garden. "Be gone from here, or we will have to terminate you!"

Shiva-Ultimecia laughed and then pointed at Rinoa.

"Sorry, my dear mistress," the voice became distorted between Shiva and Ultimecia. "But we want her!"

Rinoa took a step back.

"Me?"

"Get here!" Shiva-Ultimecia demanded. Squall stood in front of Rinoa and held his weapon out. But in a snap of a finger, Squall collapsed from the sleep spell cast upon him, leaving Rinoa exposed.

She started to walk forward until Quistis' voice called her back.

"Rinoa! You don't have to do this!"

Rinoa looked back over her shoulder.

"I have to…to save everyone…" she looked down at Squall. "To save Squall."

"Please, there has to be another way!" Seifer called to her, but his plea fell on deaf ears as she continued to make her way to her nemesis.

Then with an evil smile, a spirit transferred from Shiva into Rinoa. A bright white light exploded in front of their eyes and once it cleared, Rinoa was on the ground and face down. Shiva was knelt over, weakened by what had occurred. Quistis and Seifer rushed over and dropped to their knees beside their lifeless friend. Both were speechless.

"Mistress…" Shiva spoke and Quistis looked up. "She was inside of me…I couldn't stop her, I'm so sorry."

Quistis gave a weak smile and rested her hand on the GF's shoulder.

"That's ok Shiva," she replied. "You can repent for this by joining with me again and we will kill her together."

"But there is one problem. Ultimecia still has control over one other GF…Diablos."

Seifer looked up and saw that Quistis had bowed her head.

"But I never knew of his whereabouts. However, I know the GF that does and I can take you to him."

"Who is it Shiva?" Quistis asked.

"…Ifrit."

Quistis looked at Seifer, his former GF held the key of conquering the catastrophe.

"Take us to him," Seifer said and then met Quistis' gaze. "We need to revive Squall and Zell, Irvine is unconscious near a tree and we don't know what had happened to him."

Quistis nodded.

"We have to get back to Garden and report this Xu," she said and looked over at Shiva and held her hand out. "We have to junction and I will summon you when we want to confront Ifrit."

The GF nodded and disappeared as she found her familiar spot in Quistis' brain.

* * *

A/N:Hope you enjoyed that and this is only the beginning. The relationship between Squall and Laguna will be explored more in the sequel to this story. Next chapter: One month later and both Rinoa and Irvine haven't woken up. The SeeD's begin the search for Ifrit and Xu makes a shocking discovery that will change many lives forever.


	11. Life Changes

A/N: Another update. This chapter will be a shorter one compared to the last few only because I wanted to transistion back into the situations that the group were facing. One of them will end up being a small twist in the story and will be continued in the sequel. Hope you will enjoy this.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

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****Chapter Eleven: Life Changes**

It had only been a month since the incident in the mountains. Shortly after Squall and Zell were revived, they assisted Seifer and Quistis to carry the bodies of Rinoa and Irvine down to the camp and Quistis went ahead to send word to Balamb Garden. A month later and nothing had changed. Rinoa and Irvine were still comatose and were in the infirmary, Dr. Kadowaki was working around the clock to try to revive them, but to no avail. But she should be more concerned about a couple of young brunettes that have refused to leave their bedsides.

"Squall, are you still here?" Quistis' soft voice came from the door. Squall didn't look at her when her words reached his ears. But he continued to listen. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

Squall sighed and lifted his head up from the mattress. He wondered how long it had been since he ate, since he showered…since he could sleep in his own bed without fear.

"Come on, a couple of hours won't hurt you. She won't be going anywhere."

Quistis walked over and assisted the young man onto his feet. He stumbled a little and both pairs of blue eyes settled on one another.

"Now, go and shower," she ordered. "I'll bring you up some food shortly. I'll stay here until the doctor comes back."

Wordlessly, Squall walked past her and out of the room. Quistis sighed and took the chair next to Rinoa's bedside and took her hand. She felt cold under her hands and looked down. Quistis had always been the older sister among the group, someone that everyone could count on and look to for advice. Even at an early age she was forced to grow up quickly and to be the mentor for everyone else. However, by growing up too quickly, she had become somewhat of a loner during her cadet years. Locking herself away like a prisoner and studying instead of sneaking out to hit the town with Xu, Quistis was always trying to be disciplined and didn't want to fail anyone, mostly herself.

As she continued to look at the peaceful young woman on that cold slate, she almost brought herself to tears knowing that it was her that was in a similar situation almost two years previous. Because of that, she feared death and all because of one incident, because she was afraid of not being able to wake up from the darkness that she had been trapped in. However, Rinoa had been comatose three times during her nineteen years and she didn't allow death to fear her. Quistis could say that the sorceress war had hardened most people, and Rinoa was one of them.

* * *

"_Can Commander Trepe and Lieutenant Leonhart please report to the Headmaster's office. I repeat…Commander Trepe and Lieutenant Leonhart report to the Headmaster's office immediately."_

Squall and Quistis were in Squall's dorm. She only just got there to hand him his food, Squall was still exhausted and he wasn't in the best position to deal with whatever Xu had to say. Just as he was about to get up, Quistis gently gripped his shoulders and eased him back down onto the chair.

"You stay here," she said softly. "I'll tell Xu that you're not feeling well."

Squall nodded and the blonde left the dorm.

Shortly later, Quistis pushed open the door and saw that everyone assembled there. Xu was behind her desk and looked up at her as the tall blonde approached.

"We can get started once Squall…"

Quistis shook her head.

"Due to the current circumstances of Squall's personal life, I would recommend that he'd be relieved of his duties until this ordeal has passed," she explained and looked around the group. "I'm sure that someone can take his place until such a time arises."

Xu nodded.

"Fine then. Let's get on with it," she said and got up. "Our situation is critical, with our main sharpshooter in a coma and our own sorceress is in a similar situation because of Ultimecia, we have to take extra precautions."

Seifer raised an eyebrow.

"What sort of precautions?"

Xu looked at him directly in the eyes.

"We have no choice but to cancel all classes and send the junior classmen out of Garden until I can deem it to be safe. It is getting way too dangerous." She looked to Quistis. "How is Shiva going?"

Quistis smiled weakly.

"She's coping with everything, she has given us vital information and I have sent out several SeeD squads to survey various regions of the world."

"So what you're sayin' is…" Zell interrupted and everyone's attention was turned on him. "That Garden has being officially turned into a warzone?"

"I'm afraid so Zell," Quistis replied. "But we cannot assume this yet as we lack evidence, all we have to go by is Shiva and she said that Ifrit was the only GF that knows of Diablos' whereabouts."

"But, Ultimecia only controlled Shiva and Diablos, why would Ifrit be rouge?" Seifer asked.

Quistis shrugged her shoulders.

"Simple, Diablos is possessed whilst Ifrit is only controlled. Shiva was possessed and returned to her normal self after the powers were transferred into Rinoa," she explained to him. "Just think of it like the situation between Edea and Rinoa, Edea was no longer possessed, but you remained under Ultimecia's control."

Seifer nodded. It all seemed logical enough. When he was Ultimecia's knight, he remained on her side until she was destroyed long after Edea gave Rinoa her powers.

"But the thing is now…what are we to do with Rinoa?"

Xu walked around her desk and leaned up against it.

"We need her under heavy surveillance. She is currently a danger to Garden and to the world for that matter, we must attack her if she awakes and shows herself to be a threat."

Everyone gasped.

"But…but she's our friend!" Selphie complained. "I will not take part of this!"

Xu looked hard at her.

"Selphie, this is your duty as a SeeD! You were trained to defend the world from the threat of sorceresses! It is too late to back out of this!"

Selphie sighed.

"…Fine."

Xu looked around at the other three.

"The same goes for the three of you, we have no choice now but to fight."

They nodded.

"Ok, you are dismissed."

Seifer, Zell and Selphie marched out. Quistis remained behind and continued to look at her friend.

"Xu, you have to know that this is difficult for us to do," she said once everyone left. "If Squall was here now, he wouldn't have allowed it."

Xu shook her head.

"Come on! You of all people should know the true meaning of SeeD. Remember the oath you took when you were inducted?"

Quistis sighed and bowed her head. She did remember it, but it was the last thing she wanted to remember then.

"_I promise that I will protect this world from all harm and evil. I will fulfil this knowing that someday I may have to fight against the people that I love if they descend into darkness and as a SeeD I promise that I will do this despite my personal feelings." _

She looked up.

"Fine…but I still think it's a little early to assume…" Quistis began before she was interrupted by a ringing phone.

"Excuse me for a moment," Xu said and picked up the phone. "Hello Xu speaking…"

"Xu, it's Dr. Kadowaki."

"What can I do for you?"

"I think we need to meet to discuss your test results from the other day."

Xu swallowed. By the tone of Kadowaki, it wasn't going to be good news.

"Ok, I'll be down in an hour. I just have to finish things up here."

She hung up the phone and looked at the blonde.

"Maybe we should discuss this later. I have to go meet someone in an hour and I need to finish some work up here."

Quistis nodded and wordlessly left the office.

* * *

"So what now?" Zell asked and scanned around the cafeteria.

Seifer sighed and looked down at his cup of coffee. He knew that things were going to get heated, but not like what they were experiencing. He still thought that Irvine and Rinoa would be sitting with them, Squall and Selphie wouldn't be in such a mess and the rest of them would be out kicking Diablos' ass. But that wasn't the case. Only he, Zell and Quistis occupied the table and all they were talking about was what was happening.

"It ain't fair man! Why did this shit have to happen?"

Quistis gave a deep sigh.

"Ultimecia. Even in death, she had managed to influence everything that's happening now," she replied. "Hopefully it'll all be over soon."

Seifer looked at her.

"I certainly hope you're right. I don't think any of us can take anymore of this crap. I mean look at the other two, they're practically mourning for people who are in a coma!"

Zell got up.

"Speaking of which, I think I better go and bring Selphie some food, I'll catch ya later." He walked off and left the two blondes alone.

"I wonder what is going to happen now," Seifer spoke to no one in particular, but just loud enough for Quistis to hear.

She looked away from him.

"I don't know. But hopefully Garden's leadership will remain intact."

Meanwhile, Xu sat nervously in front of Dr. Kadowaki's desk. The doctor wasn't paying attention, instead she was looking through the results and by the amount of time she was taking, Xu was beginning it was bad news.

"So you have stated earlier that you have been throwing up for the past three days?"

Xu nodded slowly.

"Yes I have, but I can't seem to think of what it could be."

The doctor placed the folder down and leaned forward a little.

"You're tests show a pattern that resembles a woman who is in early pregnancy."

Xu gasped in horror.

"You mean I'm…"

Kadowaki nodded and Xu clasped a hand over her mouth. She didn't want to hear it¸ most of all she didn't want to believe it. But how and when did she…then it had hit her. Both Xu and Seifer were stricken by grief when they had thought that Quistis was dead and they gave into…

'Oh dear Hyne…what have I done?'

"Xu, are you okay?"

Xu snapped out her daze.

"…I think so."

Kadowaki nodded and wrote a few notes down.

"Now, I will recommend that you remove yourself from duties and…"

"Doctor, I cannot tell anyone about this."

Kadowaki raised an eyebrow.

"And why not?"

Xu sighed, she had to tell her.

"Well I'm going to tell you, but you must not tell anyone, especially to Quistis," she pleaded. "You know how we all thought Quistis was dead along with Rinoa and Irvine?"

Kadowaki nodded.

"Well, that night I went to Seifer to comfort him and I found him drinking," she explained. "I joined him and after a while things started to become hazy. But what I'm about to tell you is something that isn't going to leave this room. We gave into temptation and we didn't realise that it had happened until the morning after."

Kadowaki's eyes widened.

"You mean…Seifer's the father?" She stood up and held her forehead. "Oh my…I think you better leave Garden if you don't want Quistis to know, but I'm not going to make that decision for you. You just have to know of the consequences of either decision."

Xu nodded and left without a word. It was decision time for her. Leave while Garden was still docked at Balamb or stay and risk losing the child and the possibility of losing Quistis as a friend…she knew what she had to do.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully you all enjoyed that. Keep reading on as this story becomes more interesting. Next chapter: A disappearance rocks Balamb Garden and leaves someone to take responsibility. One of the comatose awakens and Ifrit is located. The SeeD's prepare for battle as the final frontier fast approaches them.


	12. Disappearance

A/N: Merry Christmas to everyone that is reading this! Thought that I would post this up for Christmas just because I think it's a great day to post up a chapter. Now, this story will be much shorter than the other one for mainly one reason, because it is leading up to even larger one for the last one. Now this chapter will be the main link for my next story, just keep it in mind when I start posting that up at the conclusion of this one. enjoy this chapter as it sees two of the major characters exploring their darker side.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

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**Chapter Twelve: Disappearance**

The only sound in the room was the various monitors and machines beeping, hooked up to the lifeless man on the bed. Dr. Kadowaki stood at the foot of the bed, taking down notes of Irvine's condition…still comatose.

'It has been just over a month,' she thought and looked down at the young man. 'Why hasn't he woken up yet?'

She wasn't sure what had happened to him, no one was. He was by himself when he fell unconscious and that was how he was found. Selphie, since they arrived back at Garden, had refused to leave his beside until Kadowaki summoned Zell and Quistis to escort her out so she could rest. And since then, there had been no improvement on Irvine's condition.

The doctor sighed and looked down. She knew that if he wasn't to wake up within a month, then he wasn't going to wake up at all. It was decision time, was she prepared to pull the plug and allow the sharpshooter to die or was she willing to keep hope for the sake of his friends? But just as she was going to consider to end it, she started to hear noises…moans and they were coming from the cowboy. Kadowaki leaned over him and gripped his shoulder.

"Irvine? Are you waking up?"

Her only response was eyelids snapping open and a body jolting upright, he was scared of something and she wasn't sure of what. But the main thing was that he was alive.

"What?" Irvine asked in a daze and frantically looked around. "Where am I? Aren't I meant to be in Trabia?"

Kadowaki placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay Irvine. You are back in the Garden infirmary, you have been in a coma for just over a month."

Irvine's hard gaze landed on her before he slumped back onto the pillow.

"What happened to me? All I can remember is the feeling of ice going through my body…I felt so cold."

Kadowaki threw the covers back over him and turned for the door.

"I'm going to alert Xu so she can inform everyone else."

She walked out and approached her desk. Kadowaki picked up the handset and dialled in the number for the third floor. It rang and rang for well over a minute until…

"Hi this is Headmistress Xu. I'm obviously not here, but please leave a message and I will get back to you."

But Kadowaki didn't, instead she looked up at the clock on the wall and raised an eyebrow. Something was wrong, Xu would usually be up in her office by then.

She looked over to one of her assistants.

"Excuse me, can you please closely monitor Mr. Kinneas while I head out for a minute?"

The assistant nodded.

"Sure thing doctor."

The doctor rushed out. She had a bit of a clue as to what was wrong, but she couldn't be sure until she got up there.

Meanwhile…Seifer, Quistis and Zell were sitting out on the Quad. Seifer was up on the ledge and Quistis was in between his legs and was watching Zell shadowboxing. He went to do a flip, suspended upside down. He didn't have enough momentum and then he dropped down, flat on his back and looking up into the sky. Seifer and Quistis laughed, along with a few cadets that walked past.

"Man! You'd figure these cadets would be more mature than the junior classmen, now that they're gone," Zell muttered.

Within a couple days since the meeting, the three of them were busying themselves to evacuate the junior classmen. Now all that was left in Garden were SeeD's, cadets, instructors and all medical personnel.

"But still, we have to have a clown amongst the ranks to keep this place positive."

Quistis rolled her eyes and elbowed him. Zell narrowed his eyes and was about to say something until…

"_Attention everyone, can Quistis, Seifer and Zell please report to the third floor immediately? I repeat…Quistis, Seifer and Zell report to the third floor immediately."_

The three of them easily recognised the voice…it was Dr. Kadowaki. And by the sound of her tone, something was wrong.

The three of them ran out of the elevator. They stopped in the middle of the hall and looked around.

* * *

"Where is she?" Seifer asked. He soon got his answer as Kadowaki came bursting out of Xu's office and her expression was troubling.

"Thank Hyne you three are here," she said and looked at them. "You better come in here and look at what I found."

The three SeeD's followed the doctor into the office. No one else was in there, not even Xu took her usual place behind her desk.

"Something is wrong here," Zell mentioned and walked to the desk. "Xu isn't up here."

Kadowaki looked at him and nodded.

"She would usually be up here well before now," she explained before pulling out a sheet of paper and held it out to Quistis. "I think you should be the one to read it."

Quistis looked down at the paper and grabbed it. She began to read it to herself and as she read on, her eyes widened and she looked up at everyone. The colour had drained from her face.

"What is it?" Zell asked.

Quistis walked up to the desk and leaned back onto it, holding the paper up and cleared her throat.

"It's a letter from Xu and it says…To anyone that is reading this (hopefully it's you Quis), if you are reading this letter that means I have left Balamb Garden," she began. "And I will not be coming back for a long time, and I wish you luck on your conquest as it draws to a close. Sorry I won't be there to help you all, but I guess the pressure of the whole situation was beginning to be too stressful and due to other factors that I cannot get into at this point of time. I will return someday once the whole ordeal is dealt with and I will explain it all."

Quistis looked up and swallowed to try and hide the tears.

"Now as to will control Garden as this is my official resignation from this position…well I think two heads are better than one in terms of being able to do this job, so I officially appoint Quistis and (Hyne forbid) Seifer to take up my now vacant position. The commander is up to their choosing and I think whatever decision they make is for the good of Balamb Garden. Farewell my friends and I will contact you once this is all over. Regards, Xu."

Quistis finished reading the letter and placed down on the desk and looked down. Her and Seifer were officially in charge, that was what had been decided. Zell was confused, Seifer felt nothing but guilt as he felt that he was the one responsible and Quistis…well she wasn't sure, was she shocked by her friend's sudden disappearance or was she furious because Xu had decided to save herself and leave everyone else to face death? She couldn't decide.

"Quistis, what are we going to now?" Dr. Kadowaki asked.

The blonde looked up at the older woman.

"We need to find Ifrit and end it all, then we are going to find Xu. But there is only the three of us capable of fighting as both Selphie and Squall are emotionally unstable at the…"

"Oh, but Irvine's awake now."

Everyone went wide eyed.

"Since when?" Seifer asked.

"About fifteen minutes ago, we need to alert her and get Irvine up onto his feet within the next couple of days so he is ready to fight."

Quistis nodded.

"But he wouldn't be strong enough to face Ifrit or Diablos," Quistis explained and looked over to the two men. "I think it is up to us to face the GF's."

"But what about the monsters?" Zell asked. "Chances are they they'll be lurking around them."

"Then Irvine and Selphie can lead a team to deal with them. Squall is in no condition to fight."

They nodded.

"Doctor, go to Selphie and inform her of Irvine. Zell, I want you to find Nida and tell him that we are to leave in approximately two hours," Quistis looked at Seifer. "Seifer, we need to inform the whole of Garden of what's going. You go down to the Secret Area and get anyone out of there if they want to risk being left behind."

They all nodded and rushed out. Quistis walked over to the intercom and pressed the button.

"Everyone, this is Quistis. I have an important announcement to make, so stop whatever you're doing and listen closely as I will only be saying this once…" she began. "Headmistress Xu has disappeared from Garden and has officially placed both myself and Seifer Almasy in charge of Garden. And as my first duty, I will appoint Zell Dincht as the new commander for SeeD. Nida will pilot and when both Seifer and myself aren't available, he will be in charge."

There was a slight pause as everyone gasped to what Quistis had said. Squall looked up at the speaker in his dorm.

"_We will be leaving Balamb in two hours in search of the rouge GF Ifrit as he holds the key to defeating the very thing that we've been searching for. The GF Diablos is responsible as he is under Sorceress Ultimecia's control, and we are going to put an end to it. This means our journey is almost to an end, and many lives will be lost," Quistis explained, trying to keep an even voice. "If you do not wish to fight, then please leave before Garden takes off, if you want to stay then be prepared for the worst…Thank you." _

The message ended and Squall laid back, closing his eyes and wished for a never-ending slumber. He wanted Rinoa to be awake, and maybe then she would be able to take away the pain that he was feeling.

* * *

"_Squall…my knight…"_

"_Rinoa…"_

"_My dear knight…we are almost ready…those SeeD's will never keep me here…"_

"_Rinoa? What's gotten into you?" _

_A wicked laughter filled his head._

"_Squall…we can rule the world…Don't you see? We can be more powerful then anyone could even imagine, all I'm for you is to be down by my side once they find Ifrit…then we can make our escape together…you, my lion will be an even more powerful knight than what Seifer ever was…you will no longer feel pain…"_

"…_Yes…my mistress…" _

* * *

It had been two days since Quistis' announcement and Irvine was up and about, with no problems whatsoever. He was just like he was before going comatose and was rearing to go.

"Hmm…" Irvine hummed, placing a finger on his chin. He stopped walking and the young brunette beside him stopped as well.

"What's wrong Irvy?" Selphie asked, gazing up at him. The cowboy seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. In fact, that's how the majority of Garden was after Quistis' announcement.

"Hmm…I'm just thinkin' about what Quistis just said a couple of days ago," he replied and looked down at her. "Would it be too soon to announce the end of it all? That's what they all said last time, but that didn't exactly happen."

Selphie sighed and looked down at the ground.

"I don't know, but the strange thing is…why did Xu decide to leave right before it all?"

Irvine rubbed the back of his head. That was the main question that was asked around the halls. Xu practically left without a word, only to leave written orders that were addressed to…

"Quistis! She would have to know more!" Selphie exclaimed. "We have to find out what's going on."

Irvine nodded, even though they are more than likely to get the icy cold stare from the ice queen herself if they interrupted something important. But it could not wait as the two of them felt that they were part of that leadership group as well and that they had every right to know the details.

Without another word they bolted off toward the elevators.

* * *

Shiva hovered above the desk in front of Seifer. Her icy cold stare was getting to him, making him feel more uncomfortable than what he already did as in front of him stood the very thing they had been fighting for the past two years. Just the thought was making him anxious to grab Hyperion and hunt down the rest of them himself.

However, the woman behind him made sure that he stayed put and to assist with the interrogation.

"Where is Ifrit? You said you know where he is," Quistis inquired. The GF didn't answer, so she spoke again. "It's okay to say whatever you are hiding, they can't harm you when you're with me. Trust me."

Shiva looked at Quistis and the two of them exchanged meaningful looks. It was as if they were one…why wouldn't they after all if they had been connected together for so long?

"…He is hiding in a dark place…"

Seifer sat forward and raised an eyebrow.

"Where?" he asked. "Where is this dark place?"

"…A dark place…blue lights fill it and revealed are roots. An old Guardian Force, who had decided to live in isolation for his own protection, once lived there," Shiva explained. "There on the bottom level you will find Ifrit. But beware, he is much more powerful than he was two years ago."

Quistis crossed her arms. Dark room, blue lights and roots in which a former GF lived…there was only one place that came to mind…

_Squall, Quistis and Zell were surveying the abandoned facility. Blue lights flickered on and off, revealing roots that had snuck in through the large cracks in the wall. They had to be careful or a fiend may attack them._

_Quistis noticed in the middle that there was some sort of reactor, glowing like a beacon. She tapped Squall on the shoulder and pointed over to the flashing object._

"_I wonder what it is?" he asked. _

"_I have no idea," she replied. "Maybe we should go check it out."_

_Squall nodded and led her and Zell to the reactor. But suddenly, once they reached it the whole room turned black and once the light came back on…the GF Bahamut appeared before their eyes…_

Quistis gasped, it was where they acquired Bahamut and fought the Ultima Weapon. The three of them were extremely lucky to even walk out of that battle alive. The only way that they had survived was due to Squall and Zell unleashing on the Ultima Weapon and then Quistis using Shockwave Pulsar to kill it.

'…So he's down there," she thought.

Seifer looked up at her.

"You know where he is?"

Quistis looked at him.

"Yes…Ifrit is at the Deep Sea Research facility. But we need an airship to get there," she said and looked up at Shiva. "Thank you…but how are we meant to defeat him?"

Shiva flinched.

"That I don't know, I…I sense people coming…"

Shiva disappeared just as the doors opened. Selphie and Irvine charged through and fell onto the carpet. Both Quistis and Seifer stood over them and looked down at them disapprovingly.

"What the hell is this?" Quistis asked, exasperated. "Don't you know any better than to barge in like this?"

They both stumbled to their feet, trying to regain composure. Their faces were red with embarrassment as they tried to come up with an explanation.

"…Ah…We were wondering…what was up with that announcement you made a couple of days ago?" Irvine asked and he scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah! What was all that about Xu leaving?"

Seifer buried his face in his hands.

"Exactly what you just heard," he grumbled and pointed toward the door. "Now if you don't mind, can you get the fuck out of there before you get acquinted with Hyperion?"

Selphie jumped around and started to walk out until…

"Wait! Selphie, Irvine…I have a job for you to do," Quistis called out and they both looked back. "Now, with Rinoa in a coma it is a really dangerous time for her and also for Squall. So I need the two of you to guard his dormitory and report anything unusual to us."

They looked at each other and smiled. The two of them turned fully to the blonde.

"Tell us what ya need us to do!" Irvine said.

Quistis nodded.

"Just make sure one of you is inside with him and the other outside to prevent anyone else except for us two and Zell in."

They nodded.

"Fine with us, we'll make sure he's fine," Selphie replied and ran out. "Coming Irvy?"

Irvine shook his head and smiled.

"Is there anythin' that I wouldn't do for her?"

He chased out after her and Quistis closed the doors and leaned up against them.

"That should give them something to do for a while," Seifer said and crossed his arms. "But should we be worried about Squall? What could possibly go wrong?"

Quistis sighed and crossed her arms.

"I don't really want to think about it…but Rinoa is no longer in control of her body and now she is vulnerable to Ultimecia. Trust me, it has happened once before."

Indeed it has. Seifer was unconscious on the ground in Galbadia Garden when Ultimecia spoke to him. But when he awoke he saw it wasn't her, but it was Rinoa speaking to him and it was clear to him in his own daze that Ultimecia was inside her.

"You're right, we can't be too careful. Have we got people guarding Rinoa in the infirmary?"

Quistis nodded.

"Yes, we have two SeeD's and Dr. Kadowaki to keep an eye on her. Just to avoid a similar thing to last time happening again, we have her strapped down."

"So how are going to get this airship? The Rangarok got blown up, remember?"

Quistis smiled.

"Go and get in contact with Laguna, I'm sure he'll allow us to borrow one just for the mission."

Seifer smiled and leaned forward to kiss her softly and then pulled back.

"I like your thinking. In the meanwhile why don't you inform Zell of our decision."

Wordlessly she opened the door and made her way down the corridor.

* * *

"_Rinoa…are you there?" _

"_Squall? Yes, I'm here. What is it my knight?" Rinoa replied. _

_Squall thought that he had better inform Rinoa of what the SeeD's intentions were. They had to act quickly if they had any chance of succeeding._

"_The SeeD's…they are planning an attack! Quistis had announced it just a short while ago."_

"_But…my body isn't ready…even if I awoke I will be too weak to fight."_

"_Don't worry about fighting, I will protect you until such a time when you regain strength arrives. In the meanwhile we need to get out of here." _

_Knock…Knock…_

"_What was that Squall?"_

"…_It must be them. They don't trust me to be on my own." _

_Rinoa laughed._

"…_Then you know what you must do."_

* * *

Irvine pounded on the door once more.

"Hey Squall! You in there?" He looked over to Selphie. "Maybe he's sleeping?"

Selphie sighed and shoved her boyfriend aside and knocked on the door even louder.

"Squall! You get your ass over here or we'll be breaking in!"

She pressed her ear to the door. She could hear faint footsteps from the other side, an indicator that he was up.

"Well, is he moving?"

Selphie pressed her ear even harder and looked up at Irvine. Silence.

"Doesn't seem to be…" She stood up straight again and knocked.

"Squall! We know that you're…"

Then with something totally unexpected, the door exploded at their faces. The door flew off and carried both Irvine and Selphie into the wall. Squall emerged, revolver gunblade in hand. Selphie and Irvine both looked up at the young man and as he walked past, they saw something very unusual about his eyes. They were as blank as slates, just like when…

"Selphie! Go and alert Quistis, I'll go and head him off!"

They both got up and dusted themselves off.

"What?"

Irvine shook his head and threw his arms out.

"Dammit, trust me with this! He's headin' for the infirmary!"

Selphie gasped.

'Rinoa!' She screamed in her head.

Selphie took off and Irvine went off in Squall's direction to try and beat him.

* * *

"Quisty!" Selphie yelled as she ran toward the office, legs pumping as hard as they could. Both doors flung open and Quistis stood there. Seifer was sitting behind the desk and he stood up as the two women rushed down to him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Selphie hunched over, trying to get her breath back. Once she did, she just explained the situation.

"It's Squall…he's heading for the infirmary! He nearly killed both Irvine and me in the process!"

Seifer crossed his arms.

"Why would he do that?"

"Because…because he's possessed! I saw it in his eyes."

Quistis and Seifer's eyes both widened. This was what they had feared the most, but there was no time to live in fear as they had to act quickly before someone got hurt, or worse.

Quistis turned to Seifer.

"Go down to the infirmary and make sure everything is right there," she said and looked at Selphie. "Irvine's there, right?"

She nodded and the blonde looked over to her counterpart.

"I'll place an announcement over the system to alert the whole of Garden."

Seifer nodded and ran out with Hyperion hot in his hand. Quistis rushed to behind the desk and pressed the intercom on.

"Attention everyone! Squall Leonhart had now become a threat to Garden, every SeeD and SeeD candidate please stop him from reaching the infirmary and try to restrain him as quickly as possible! That is all."

She pressed a button which had set off an alarm.

* * *

The two SeeD's outside of Rinoa's room held their weapons out at the young man in black. He wasn't slowing down, but instead he was picking up speed.

"Stop there! Stop or I'll shoot!"

"Squall!"

"Leonhart!"

Both Irvine and Seifer were running up behind him, weapons out and ready to attack. Squall stopped and looked to the ground.

"I don't want to shoot you, but if it was to help the good of Garden, so help me Hyne that I will!" Irvine warned.

Seifer held Hyperion up.

"Drop your weapon!"

Squall raised his gunblade up to his face and smirked. He wasn't going to give up that easily.

"…You fools! Do you really think a couple of pathetic SeeD's such as yourselves will stop me?" Squall laughed bitterly. "My mistress is waiting for me and together we will erase SeeD once and for all! At least then I will have done something that you hadn't done, Seifer!"

Seifer growled a little as Squall brought up his failure. But even before either Seifer and Irvine could react, Squall whirled around and held his arm out, levitating them off the ground and flung them in the air…toward a wall. They both had hit the wall hard and collapsed face down on the ground. They were knocked out cold and Squall held his hand out to the two charging SeeD's, freezing them and they creased movement.

* * *

"Zell!" Quistis called out as they made their way to the infirmary. Selphie was right behind her side, trying to keep up with the taller woman. Zell looked over to them and punched his fists together.

"Squall…he's heading out towards the Front Gate with Rinoa! And he made a mess of the Infirmary!"

Quistis nodded and looked at Selphie.

"Go and check out the Infirmary," she motioned to Zell. "We'll try and catch up to him."

She took off with Zell as Selphie headed down to the Infirmary.

* * *

Selphie ran into the main room of the Infirmary, eyes widened at the sight that she saw. Multiple unconscious bodies were on the ground, three of them she could recognise. Dr. Kadowaki was on her back on her desk while both Irvine and Seifer were face down. She looked up along the wall and saw where they had hit.

"Holy Hyne…"

"Selphie…"

She looked down at Seifer, who appeared to be waking up. She rushed over and knelt down beside him.

"…Where is that bastard?"

Selphie helped him up so that he was sitting upright. She helped him rest his head up against the wall and she began to try and clean the blood from his face.

"Squall…he's nearly out of here. Quistis and Zell are going to try to restrain him."

Seifer smirked a little.

"Just wait until I get my hands on him…"

* * *

Squall was past the entrance until he realised that Garden was floating across the ocean. He looked back at Rinoa and smiled.

'We'll get outta here, I promise.'

"Squall Leonhart! Stop this right now!" Quistis demanded. He stopped and looked at her, with Zell by her side. Quistis had uncoiled Save the Queen and was prepared to harm her former student in order to make him see sense. "What in Hyne's name are you doing?"

Squall chuckled bitterly.

"All in due time you will see our plan come together," he said. "SeeD's are poisoning this world and we will cure it. You, and the others will be nothing but slaves to us for an eternity."

Zell took a few steps forward.

"Squall…you fuckin' idiot!"

Squall turned around and sped off. Quistis held her hand out, ready to cast Ultima until Squall and Rinoa both disappeared in midair.

She lowered her hand as the both of them were speechless at what they just saw.

"What was that?" Zell asked, amazed.

Quistis couldn't even comprehend what just happened, but she knew then that Squall and Rinoa were the enemies and regardless of how much it pained her to think…they will have to fight them, eventually but not now. She wanted to finish the GF fiasco once and for all.

* * *

A/N: A nice little twist to have have before the end. But it isn't finished yet, still have two more battles to get through and they will be coming up soon. Next chapter: Seifer, Irvine and Selphie fight Ifrit while Quistis and the rest of Garden face the threat of invading monsters. The Galbadian SeeD's return as they assist in preparation for the final battle, as well as having some key information of their own.


	13. Through the Fire and the Flames

A/N: An action filled chapter here. GF and monster battles plus temperatures rising and tempers flaring. Such a great combination. Anyway, enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Thirteen: Through the Fire and Flames**

It had been two weeks since Squall left with Rinoa, the destruction that he had left behind still remained as no one had been bothered to clean up as most of them had been injured during the rampage. Also, with Dr. Kadowaki injured, Balamb Garden was short on medical staff and the SeeD forces were almost halved, trying in vein to bring down their former leader.

This had caused many headaches for Quistis, who was trying to find a way to compensate for the losses. However, she hadn't found any until…

"Hey, Quisty!" Zell snapped her out her thoughts. She was just thinking about how much of a nightmare it all was.

"Yes Zell, sorry…I mean what is it that you were going to say?"

Zell cleared his throat and jumped out.

"As I was just saying, have you tried Galbadia Garden?"

Quistis shook her head.

"That places is in complete ruins, they are useless to us," she replied. "They can't get off the ground."

Zell shook his head.

"I know, but I mean what if we consider using their SeeD's to build an army? We have more room in here now since the majority of the student population are gone."

Quistis stood up and leaned up against the desk, her back was turned to him. He had a point, what more did they have to lose anyway?

She turned to him.

"Fine, I'll talk to them. How far away from Galbadia are we?"

"We're just off the west coast, near the Garden."

Quistis sat back down.

"Inform Nida to change course to Galbadia Garden, I'll ring Laguna and inform him to bring the aircraft there."

Zell nodded and walked out. Quistis picked up the phone and pressed the button for Laguna's line. It rung a few times before an answer came through.

"Hello, who's speaking?"

Quistis cleared her throat.

"Hello, it's Quistis from Balamb Garden."

"Ah, Miss Trepe! How can be of some help?"

"Well I…I just want to inform you that we are heading to Galbadia Garden for business, so I was wondering if it wasn't too late to meet us there instead of our original contact point?"

Laguna's laugh could be heard very clearly and Quistis leaned back in her chair, fingernails tapping on the wooden desk top.

"Of course it isn't, they haven't left yet. They should be there in about three hours," he replied. "So, is there anything else?"

Quistis sighed.

"No, that's it."

"Very well then…Hey, Quistis."

"Yeah?"

"How's Squall doing?"

Quistis felt the tears building up in her eyes. She hadn't called Laguna to tell him that his son had betrayed them and is out there somewhere with a sorceress under possession. But telling over the phone isn't the best thing at that moment.

"Yes, he's fine. Anyway I got to go and thank you for that."

"That's alright, I just had to know that's all. Well then, 'til next time."

He rung up the phone and Quistis placed down her end. She allowed a few streams to be released. She knew that this day would come, that Rinoa's powers would get the best of her and Squall. But she was a SeeD! And it was their job to protect the world from sorceresses, even if it was one of her friends. But Squall was prepared for this, wasn't he? When he promised her out in that flower field that he would be her knight and protect her? Of course he did, he basically volunteered himself to take on the same role that almost ended up killing Seifer in the end. She wondered if Squall would a better job.

She closed her eyes and went back into deep thought.

* * *

Later that afternoon, the airship arrived in the desert surrounding Galbadia Garden. Quistis had already decided to handle the negotiations with Galbadia Garden, so she had handpicked Seifer, Selphie and Irvine to handle Ifrit at the Deep Sea Research facility. They had been in midair for an hour and Seifer already grew bored.

"How much longer are we gonna be?" he whined. "I just want to get this over and done with."

Selphie looked over at him and smiled.

"Stop complaining and enjoy the ride! Don't you just love the feeling of flying midair?"

He looked over to Irvine.

"Please, make her stop!"

Irvine chuckled.

"Easy there, she ain't causin' no harm."

"Yeah," Selphie teased and poked her tongue at him and then looked out of the window.

In a matter of fact, the only reason he hated flying was when he took his SeeD exam, he was hanging onto the edge of the Ragnarok and was like that for about a minute with Quistis firing rounds near his ear.

He sighed deeply and rolled his head back.

'This is going to be one fucking long ass trip,' he thought and closed his eyes.

* * *

Zell and Quistis reached the Front Gate and saw that the ruins haven't changed. Galbadia Garden was still in ruins and many SeeD's were sitting around, some were looking worse for wear as it appeared that they hardly ate. Quistis knew that she had a bit of work ahead of her.

"Excuse me," she called out to a SeeD. They stopped for a moment to recognise her, and they did.

"Instructor Trepe," the male SeeD replied and saluted. "What brings you here?"

She and Zell returned the salute and stood at ease.

"We need to speak to who ever is in charge, where are they?"

The SeeD nodded.

"Yes, I can take you to him. I think he'll be very pleased to see you."

He led them up the main path, through the ruins and Quistis and Zell scanned what was around them.

"So how have you been surviving without food?" Zell asked out of curiosity.

The SeeD sighed.

"We had to kill off the monsters in our training facility and eat the meat," he replied. "Then our stronger SeeD's and cadet went out and gathered more. Our numbers are strong, but I don't know how much longer we'll survive, our SeeD's are like a dying race."

"But, if you had the resources, would you be able to get healthy again to fight?" Quistis asked.

The SeeD stopped in front of the elevator and opened it.

"I don't know, but if we had…then it would take a very long time to get back onto our own two feet again."

The three of them stepped into the elevator and it ascended up.

* * *

Three hellish hours of a trip for Seifer later and they were finally at the Deep Sea Research facility. The room glowed with that familiar blue, flickering on and off.

"Ok, just remember that when the lights come on, everyone stop moving," Seifer reminded them for the fifteenth time within the past hour.

"And tell us why this is the best option of moving through here?" Selphie asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to move once the lights come on?"

The lights came on and the three of them stopped. They were to make no movement to avoid possible attack from the monsters. They just had to reach the other side and they would be home free. Selphie just had to get his answer once the lights went off…and they did.

He turned around to her.

"Because unless you want to get attacked, then by all means run across there!"

But just as he swung his arm out, the lights came back on and a Ruby Dragon saw them. It roared and blew flames out.

"Holy shit!" Seifer cursed and looked to his side and saw Selphie running toward their destination. "Oh fuck me sideways."

The dragon roared again and then Irvine tapped the ex-knight's shoulder.

"Maybe we should go," he suggested the two men took off, screaming as the dragon chased after them.

* * *

A young SeeD sat in the throne and was listening intently to every word that came out of Quistis and Zell's mouths. They had so far explained their situation. About the GF's, about Xu's disappearance and most of all…about Squall and Rinoa's betrayal.

He leaned forward and took more of the information in.

"…So if you allow your SeeD's to join us," Quistis continued. "We will grant them full access to Balamb Garden's facilities including dorms, training facilities, anything that they may require to get them back onto their feet."

"But that wouldn't be fair on your soldiers, Quistis," he said. "You have to think of yourselves first above…"

"I know, but…"

"Please, what was your name again?" Zell interrupted.

"Marcus."

"Marcus…just hear us out. It wouldn't be much of a problem now, half of our soldiers are injured or dead because of Squall," Zell explained. "We need a full army to deal with what we've got coming up as we no longer have the manpower to do it on our own anymore."

Quistis nodded.

"Just think about it at least and get back to us within the next couple of days," she said. "If you are not in front of Balamb Garden by sundown tomorrow, then we know that you have made your decision."

She turned around and both her and Zell made their leave without either party saying another word.

Marcus stood up and motioned over a female SeeD once the elevator had descended.

"Speak to the others and see what they think," he ordered. "But do it quick as we only have a short time to do it in."

She saluted him.

"Yes, sir."

She ran out and the tall man sat back down.

* * *

The Ruby Dragon's roar could still be heard as the three of them continued to make their way through the complex. Seifer nearly broke an ankle when he jumped down the hole and ended up landing on Irvine. Selphie had time to climb down safely and she laughed at the two men. Now she was irritating them even more by been amused by the ocean next to them, looking at all of its creatures.

"Imagine what it would have been like to work here," she said. "Just look at this view."

Seifer slapped his forehead and growled. He slapped Irvine over the back of the head. The cowboy cried out a little and held the back of his head.

"Hyne dammit cowboy if you don't control her, I will fucking blame you for getting us killed!" Seifer hissed in his ear.

Irvine smiled despite being threatened.

"Easy there Seifer, she isn't doing anything wrong."

"Yeah, what about our little dragon friend back there?"

Irvine's eye's widened.

"Fair point."

"Hey guys! Come here, I found something!"

Seifer couldn't resist rolling his eyes.

"What is it now? Have you found a mermaid?"

Selphie giggled.

"No, even better."

She pointed to a staircase that had been opened, obviously by the last person that was down there.

"_I wonder what this switch does?" Squall wondered and pulled the lever down. The generator cranked over, but died quickly. _

"_It probably needs some of those power generators that we found," Quistis suggested._

_Zell knew what they were after and he pulled them out of his pocket. He inserted them inside the slots of the machine and then Squall pulled the lever. This time, the generator cranked over and ran. A few moments later, Quistis jumped off the platform that she stood on and it moved to reveal a hidden stairwell._

"Well then, let's go!"

Selphie ran down and the two men followed her.

* * *

The hot desert wind was blowing profusely outside, everyone was ordered to stay indoors until the storm had passed. One person in particular was hoping that it would soon so that people would stop barging in every five minutes to ask whether if they could go out. Groaning, Quistis buried herself in her arms on the desk and sighed. The hot temperature wasn't helping her much at all, that and Zell shadowboxing in the corner.

She looked up and looked at him.

"Zell, can you please give it a rest for five minutes?"

He stopped and looked over to her. Zell noticed that she was exhausted and looked as if she was to drop at any moment.

"Sure thing," he said and walked over to sit in the chair at the front of the desk. "You ok?"

Quistis shook her head and rested her head back down. Since the rampage, she hadn't slept all that well and not getting to sleep until the early hours of the morning before her alarm goes off at six in the morning. Most of the time, she was disturbed by the thoughts of having to fight Squall, the very person that was a leader for Garden when a time of crisis occurred, the person that she taught when she was his instructor.

But it was expected to happen, wasn't it?

"So has anyone heard anything about Squall?"

Quistis sat up and looked at him, shaking her head.

"I'm afraid not," she replied. "I doubt anyone did, especially after the way she saw him leave. They could be anywhere."

Zell nodded.

"But how did they manage to leave like that, just to vanish into thin air?"

"Well Squall is possessed at the moment, just like Seifer. Who knows what either Squall or Rinoa are capable of…"

Meanwhile in a forest near Timber. Squall stopped walking and placed Rinoa gently down onto the ground. He stood up and wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked around at his surroundings. He had been going non-stop for two weeks since leaving Balamb Garden. He was officially branded a traitor and was afraid to stop in case SeeD would catch up with him and kill both him and Rinoa.

He looked down and smiled.

'Not yet, I won't let them get to you…'

* * *

"…Is this it?" Irvine wondered and rubbed his neck. "Doesn't look like the sort of place that a GF would live in."

Seifer looked around and approached the water's edge and crouched down.

"Well that's a bummer! Seems like nothing is here."

Seifer looked up at her.

'Don't worry, he'll be here,' he thought and looked back down. 'I can sense it.'

"Seifer? Is everything ok?"

He stood up and turned to them.

"Get your weapons out and stay alert. He's coming."

They looked at him wide-eyed.

"And how do you know this?" Irvine asked. "It's not like you have a connection with him or anything."

But he does. Similar to the connection that Quistis has with Shiva, Seifer can still sense Ifrit's presence even though they were no longer one…but they will be once Seifer is through with him…

"Trust me on this," he turned around. "Don't kill him, hurt him a little to make him submit to us and I will join with him again."

"Master?"

The three of them looked up at the sky and saw the fire GF floating above them. They made space for him and Ifrit landed directly in the middle of the triangle. Seifer took two steps forward before speaking.

"Yes Ifrit, I have come for you."

Ifrit roared and slammed a large fist on the ground.

"Aghhh…you, and you alone must defeat me in battle and I will then be under your command!"

Seifer swallowed and looked over to Selphie and Irvine, who both returned his gaze. He looked back up at the GF and nodded. Seifer walked to the others and took off his trench coat and shirt, handing it to them.

"What the hell are you doin'?" Irvine asked. "It's suicide!"

Seifer chuckled and held up Hyperion.

"Don't worry about a thing, it'll all be over soon," he replied and smirked. "I just have to jump through the fire and the flames to win this one."

He turned around to Ifrit and pointed his gunblade at him.

"Ready when you are. Show me what ya got!"

With that, he took off with great speed and jumped up at the fire clad creature.

_

* * *

_

_Crack! Crack! Crack!_

Three loud cracks filled the tiny office, but that didn't do much to bring Quistis' aggravation level down a notch. She didn't know what it was that was causing her to feel the way she did. Was it perhaps that she was still infuriated at Xu for her sudden disappearance and left her in this position or was it due to her former pupil deciding to betray everyone without warning and left Garden in chaos? To be honest, she didn't know who to blame…if there was anyone to.

'I would hate to be the next person to walk though that door,' she thought as she continued to crack. 'They'll probably…'

The door flew open and Zell had to duck as Quistis flung Save the Queen out and just narrowly missed his head.

"Whoa! What the fuck?"

Quistis coiled her whip as Zell ran over, gasping for air. Obviously he rushed to get up to her, so obviously it was something important.

"What's the matter Zell? Has something happened?"

Zell nodded.

"Yeah, the storm has caused nearby monsters to invade Garden!" He replied quickly. "…But we are that low on numbers that we are barely holding them off."

Quistis slapped her forehead. This was the last thing that she needed, a bunch of desert fiends to roam through the halls and as always she would be the one to fix the problem.

'Just hasn't been my day. Just fucking great.'

She looked at the martial artist.

"Well we can't get Galbadia in, the storm is too strong," she explained. "So I guess it's up to us."

She pushed past him and he chased her out.

_

* * *

_

_Slash…Slash…Slash…_

"Hyne dammit!" Seifer swore as he tried to catch his breath. He fell to one knee, drenched in his own sweat and blood. He stared up at Ifrit, who wore a few gunblade wounds on his chest and left shoulder. But Seifer was exhausted and he wasn't sure if he could continue.

Irvine and Selphie sat at the bottom of the steps, shouting at him to harden up and keep fighting.

"Come on Seifer! Keep goin'!" Irvine called out. "You can win this!"

"Seifer! What would Quistis say if she saw you like this?" Selphie yelled at him.

Seifer's eyes shot wide open. What would she say indeed? Get off your ass and just do your duty? Most fucking likely, he thought to himself as the most likely answer. Hell! He was one of the most fearless fighters in Garden, he shouldn't be on the ground and preparing himself to accept defeat…it was time to fulfil his duty.

He used Hyperion to lever himself up onto his own two feet, ready to continue. Ifrit looked down at his former master.

'Well then, I admire his fighting spirit,' he thought. 'But I promised Diablos that I would protect him…'

Ifrit roared and jumped up into the air, crashing down towards Seifer who then dove to the side. He rolled and held his palm out, releasing a fireball that hardly did anything to the fire GF, but it had to do for what he did next.

Seifer ran up and unleashed unexpectedly upon Ifrit, blow after blow that rocked even Irvine and Selphie to the core. Not even in Squall did they see such power from an individual.

"Holy shit…" Irvine said in awe.

The fury of strikes stopped and Seifer landed on the ground, he narrowed his emerald eyes at his target and placed his finger on the trigger.

'Time to end it.'

He ran up to Ifrit and leapt off his leg, until he was suspended above him. Raising Hyperion over his head, he drew the Fire Cross, each time pulling the trigger. Once he finished, the cross exploded and room turned white…

* * *

The main hall was in absolute ruins as benches were ripped apart and even the marble wall was heavily damaged. SeeD's were fighting the many fiends that broken in and most of the army were already down, injured.

"Damn," Quistis swore and looked down from the top of the stairs. "This is really bad."

A loud screech came from behind her. Quistis spun around, bringing her whip with her and in a powerful strike it made contact with the flying monster. Zell ran up and kicked it in the head.

"Come on, we need to get down there," she said and ran down the stairs.

They encountered more and more of them, they were just growing in numbers. Quistis knew that they couldn't do it on their own, but there was one thing that she had heavily relied on in the past.

'Shiva! I need you to help us…help us save Garden.'

Quistis buried her face inside her arms, Zell looked over at her after taking down another fiend and knew what she was up to.

"Quistis, are you sure this is safe?"

But she didn't listen and she thrust her palms out to summon the ice maiden. Shiva popped up inside her ice tomb and the ice shattered. She began to power up and in one quick movement she threw her arms down from over her head, sending a beam of ice down the hall and froze the monsters. The ice shattered and all that remained were dead monsters.

Shiva disappeared, but there were still monsters to be cleared and Quistis didn't know how much longer everyone was going to last.

"It wasn't enough," Zell said. "We need reinforcements!"

He spoke too soon as a grenade exploded down the other side of the hall. They both looked down the hall and saw people in Galbadian SeeD uniforms, charging at monsters and taking them down in their path. Explosions from more grenades occurred and this gave both Zell and Quistis renewed hope about the battle. They looked at each other and nodded before they ran up the hall and clashed with three monsters.

* * *

The white flash cleared. Irvine and Selphie opened their eyes and saw that the ground was in ruins due to the explosion. They figured that no one could have survived something like that, not even Seifer who had delivered the attack.

"Is there any sign of them?" Selphie asked, almost in a whisper.

Irvine narrowed his eyes a little and began to look around.

'I can't see anything…where are you Seifer?' he thought and then when he was about to stop searching…

Irvine pointed out to a cloud of dust.

"What's over there?"

Selphie looked over to the cloud and the dust started to settle. She saw Ifrit kneeling on the ground, in front of a raised part of ground and on top of that part was…

"Seifer?" Selphie wondered. Once the last of the dust settled, Seifer was seen to be the one standing tall on there, looking down upon Ifrit with Hyperion raised above him just like at Edea's parade during the war.

Ifrit looked up at the young man.

"Well done…master. You have defeated me."

Seifer chuckled.

"Think about it, you were harder than Shiva," he said. "She decided to re-join with her host."

"You…you have Shiva?"

Seifer nodded, Ifrit bowed his head.

"…Very well. I shall join you once again, just tell me what you need me for."

* * *

The reinforcements had helped them tremendously as within a space of about fifteen minutes since the Galbadian's arrival, the monster numbers decreased rapidly. Three-quarters of an hour had paased and the fiery assualt from them continued on. Quistis and Zell continued their offence and showed no backing-down. They were down to their last one and it proved to be difficult due to Ultimecia's grip on the monsters of their time. But their luck soon appeared to have run out...

"Hyne fuckin' dammit!" Zell cursed loudly as a Blitz sliced at him with its sword, causing Zell to dive and heavily land on his shoulder. "He nearly got be there!"

The Blitz was the last one left in their area, and it was the hardest one left to fight. Quistis knelt down next to him after casting Quake.

"Are you ok?"

Zell groaned painfully and sat up.

"Don't worry about me…Quisty, watch out!"

Quistis looked behind her and saw the Blitz behind her, sword raised above itself and before she could find the time to move, the sword was brought down in on quick swipe and ran across her left shoulder.

"Fuck!" She cried out in pain, gripping the newly formed injury. She removed her hand and saw the blood, dripping and staining her clothes.

That was it…

She jumped up and held her right palm out.

"Degenerator!"

The Blitz disappeared into that blue realm and once that disappeared, so did the enemy. Quistis fell to her knees and gripped her shoulder again. Galbadian SeeD's rushed over to the two injured SeeD's and helped them up. Quistis looked around the group and smiled. She was happy that they had decided to come at the time that they needed help the most.

"Come on, we'll talk in the infirmary," Marcus said from nearby and the SeeD's assisted Zell and Quistis down the hall to the infirmary.

* * *

It had been a long day for the three of them. They just wanted to get back to their dorms and rest, but they had business to take care first. They managed to push through the destruction created by the monsters, which now lay dead and their blood splattered across the walls like paint. Seifer led them first to the third floor, in hopes of finding Quistis and Zell up there, but it was empty. It wasn't until a SeeD told them what happened and that both Quistis and Zell were injured during the battle and were in the infirmary with a few of the SeeD's from Galbadia. They walked into the main room and a Balamb SeeD pointed the three of them to the room where they were. There were voices heard, obviously in deep conversation.

"So, we have decided to take up your offer and to fight alongside you," Marcus finished explaining to the two SeeD's and brushed back his short black hair. "We want revenge for what they did to us.

Quistis nodded and held her hand up to her now-bandaged shoulder.

"Glad to hear it," she replied. "We need all the help we can get I'm afraid."

The tall SeeD nodded and looked over to the door.

"I see we have company." He held his hand out. "Please, do come in."

Seifer, Irvine and Selphie walked in, looking even worse than what the other two did, especially Seifer. Seifer took Marcus' hand and shook it.

"Seifer, this is Marcus," Quistis introduced. "He's in charge over at Galbadia."

"Pleasure to meet you," Marcus said. "You must be the other head of Garden."

Seifer nodded. Marcus scanned around with his gray eyes to Irvine and instantly recognised him.

"Irvine, it's good to see you again. I see that you've decided to make Balamb your home instead of Galbadia."

Irvine rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the ground.

"Well…I was more needed here than over there," Irvine replied. "They didn't have a sharpshooter and they allowed me to become a SeeD in order to have one amongst the ranks."

Marcus chuckled.

"Fair enough, I think Martine did say that awhile ago if I can recall."

Quistis stood up off the bed and faced the Galbadian.

"Can you please give me a moment to talk to my team?" she asked him. "You understand don't you?"

Marcus nodded.

"Of course, we can't be imposing." He walked out with his SeeD's and left what was left of the Fated Children alone.

Seifer's eyes diverted back to Quistis, her left shoulder was heavily bandaged and was only wearing a black tank top and gray sweatpants. Zell was sitting on the edge of the bed, his right arm in a sling to support his injured shoulder.

"How long are you going to be out for Dincht?" Seifer asked, pointing at the sling.

"About a month…which means I probably won't fight."

Quistis placed a hand on his uninjured side and looked at him.

"I'll be fighting, you can look after things here," she said and looked up at Seifer. "What did you find out?"

Seifer looked at her.

"We fought him…"

"Actually it was all Seifer," Irvine added.

"Yeah! He was awesome!"

Quistis looked at him and smiled.

"Well…I would like to hear all about it," she said, looking at him directly in the eyes. "Maybe you get yourself checked out first."

Seifer smirked at her.

"I think a shower, some food and a comfortable bed sounds good to me at the moment."

Quistis nodded.

"Ok, go and shower and I'll bring something to our dorm to eat," she replied and looked at the other three. "Go and clean up, have something to eat and meet in our dorm at exactly 20:00 hours."

Tonight was the night that they were going to put together all of the pieces of this puzzle.

* * *

A/N: The final battle will be upon them soon. Just keep reading to find out how this ends, I have already decided how this will end and it will be a completely different ending compared to the first one. Read on to find out what happens. Next chapter: Squall and Rinoa meet an ally as Rinoa awakens. Meanwhile the SeeD's prepare their assualt and the gang spend one last night of relaxation and peace with each other.


	14. Calm Before the Storm

A/N: Not much really to say about this chapter, just thought I'd allow a chapter in which allows our heroes to relax a bit for the big one. Also to allow some exploration into Squall's further fall into darkness. Enjoy!

Warnings: Mild, non-explicit adult situations (a tiny bit of LIME), too much alcohol

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

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* * *

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**Chapter Fourteen: Calm Before the Storm**

The clock was ticking and it was the only sound that was present in the room. Seifer looked up at it and thought about tearing it off the wall and throwing out of the window as it was giving him a headache, and a major one too.

"I wonder what's keeping them," Quistis said from the bedroom. She emerged in her SeeD uniform and stood at the doorway. "I told them to be here by now."

Seifer sighed and slumped back on the couch.

"Don't know, but that clock is that fucking annoying that I must have to murder it."

_Knock…,Knock…_

They both looked to the door and sighed in relief, it was about time.

"It's open!" Seifer called to them. The door opened and the three SeeD's entered, all with grins on their faces to say that they were up to no good.

Selphie sat on the armrest next to Seifer, placing her legs along his lap. Irvine walked over to near where Quistis was standing and leaned up against the doorframe, giving her the most seductive grin that she had ever seen from him. Seifer noticed this and tried to get up before Zell slumped himself next to the ex-knight, causing him to lose his balance and fall back down.

"…Ok, this is strange," Quistis said and looked around at all three of them. "What's going on here?"

Selphie slapped the back of Seifer's head and giggled.

"You know that we are just a ten minute train ride away from Deling City," she mentioned. "If you get my drift."

Seifer removed his hand from where Selphie whacked him and stared at her with the most unamused look.

"Yeah? And you're point being?"

Zell threw his arm around the taller man's shoulder and looked at Quistis.

"And Deling City is full of bars…" Zell began to say before Seifer slapped the back of his head.

Irvine chuckled.

"So we were thinkin' that if we are headin' into a battle that will possibly kill us that we should take the opportunity to head out," he explained and pointed a finger to himself. "And I'm the best man to show you the best bar of all of Galbadia."

Quistis and Seifer looked at each other and then back to Irvine.

"Irvine, I thought we were meant to be discussing the mission," Quistis wondered and folded her arms. "Maybe the bar thing can wait until afterwards?"

Irvine slumped over in defeat and shook his head.

"Always business first with you, isn't it?"

"Get used to it cowboy!" Seifer replied. "Now, I'm all in favour for bar crawling. However, Garden business comes first. Now sit your asses down so that the sooner we do this the sooner we can go."

Quistis stared at Seifer and he met her gaze, seeing that her jaw dropped a little. He winked at her and she rolled her eyes in response.

"Fine with me," she replied, pointing around the room at everyone. "But we still have a duty to do and we are not getting hammered, got it?"

Everyone sighed and then sat down on whatever vacant chair that they could find. Quistis sat herself in between the two blonde males, possibly to avoid any bloodshed if they got into an argument with one another.

"Ok then, what did you find out?"

Irvine crossed his arms and leaned back.

"We…I mean Seifer fought Ifrit down in some reserve at the lowest point of the facility. Afterwards, Ifrit decided to give in and joined us," he explained. "He told us everything that we needed to know."

"So what did he say?"

"Ifrit said…" Selphie began. "…That Diablos is controlling all the GF's and has a part of Ultimecia controlling his mind."

"He also said that Diablos is hiding in some cave on the Esthar continent," Seifer continued. Quistis placed a finger on her chin and hummed. Everyone looked at her.

"Hmm…I know of some caves up north of the city," she said. "But I never been there before, and I'm sure you four haven't either." They nodded to agree.

"What if we ask Laguna for some assistance?" Irvine suggested. "I'm sure he knows of someone that has been up there and maybe they can help us."

Quistis nodded.

"I'll call him in the morning to send an airship to pick Seifer, Irvine, Selphie and myself up," she replied and looked over to Zell. "You're in charge in our absence and I have a special job for you."

Zell nodded.

"What is it?"

"When I went up to the office earlier, we received emergency calls from Balamb, Dollet and Timber in relation to monster attacks and apparently it has got so bad that they are roaming the streets," Quistis explained. "But, you will need the whole SeeD force onto it as they are no ordinary creatures due to whatever Ultimecia had done to this world."

"So, I'm supposed to send multiple SeeD troops into these towns to exterminate monsters?" Zell asked and clenched his fist in front of his face. "Then I'm your man!"

Quistis smiled.

"Good, then I will make the call in the morning."

Irvine and Selphie stood up and stretched.

"Well then…I say it is time to head out."

* * *

He collapsed on his knees and stared up into the night sky, his steel blue eyes looking directly at the moon. Squall closed his eyes and bowed his head in exhaustion, he knew that he couldn't keep going the way that he was. But if he stopped now, what would that mean for Rinoa?

'I can't give up…I have to keep going, for her.'

He tried with his last ounce of strength until he fell backwards and at that point Squall had began to feel himself falling. Maybe he was heading further into the path that Seifer once did, almost to a point of no return…that was probably where he was. And look where it had got both he and Rinoa, on the run and trapped in a forest outside of Timber with no idea of where to go.

Squall got onto his knees and looked over his shoulder at Rinoa, she was still comatose and communicating through his mind.

"_Squall…where are we?"_

"_We're still in the forest…but I'm finding a way out."_

He looked around frantically upon hearing wind from nearby. Jumping up onto his feet, he grabbed his gunblade and looked around, ready to attack.

"Hey! Show yourself you coward!" He screamed. "Come on, I'm not afraid of you!"

A deep, evil laughter came from behind him. Squall turned around and saw a very familiar old ally, hovering above the ground. It was that dark that the only parts that Squall could see was the red torso.

Suddenly, he descended into pure darkness.

* * *

Within two hours of being in a bar in Deling City, Zell had already passed out cold and only after six beers and two whisky shots. He was sprawled out along the table and the others laughed as they continued the fun.

"Never let a small man to play big man games," Irvine said as he headed into his own drunkenness. He raised his shot glass and cleared his throat. "Here is to the end of it all!"

He threw back the shot and fell off his chair. Selphie giggled and jumped on top of him. Seifer and Quistis looked at each other and laughed. They continued to drink, but tried their best to remain sober. They didn't take part in any of the games. But if they were dragged into the ones involving vodka, Quistis would 'complain' about the bottles her and Seifer got and she would secretly ask the bartender to give her bottles of water instead so that the two of them remained sober.

"I can't believe they didn't realise the difference," Seifer whispered to her and looked at Zell. "Maybe he should have taken the hint and followed our lead."

Quistis giggled and shook her head.

"Well maybe then he wouldn't be in this state…" she looked to the couple on the ground. "Maybe we should get them out here before they do a very public performance."

Seifer nodded.

"But we can't on the train with them in this state."

"Then we'll just go to a hotel and leave early enough to get back to Garden undetected," Quistis suggested and got up. "You coming?"

Seifer sighed and got up as well, lifting Zell up from his chair. Quistis helped both Selphie and Irvine up she led them out. They stumbled out the door and Seifer looked to the bartender.

"You guys are SeeD, aren't you?"

Seifer nodded. Obviously he noticed that Quistis was still in her uniform just so they had access to the SeeD cabin to prove their SeeD status.

"Well then, the drinks are on the house."

Seifer walked out, allowing Zell's head to hit the doorframe on their way out. Seifer snickered and looked at him.

'He's gonna have a sore head when he wakes up.'

They got to the hotel, which was fortunate for them that it was only a block away. Quistis had a hard time in controlling Selphie and Irvine as they would stopped every ten minutes to make out before Quistis forcefully pulled them apart and made them stumble along. When they got to the reception, they were almost thrown out due to their state and due to breaking a statue after Selphie pushed Irvine into it. Quistis reluctantly paid the damages and said that they were desperate and had nowhere else to go. The receptionist handed them over two keys, Seifer made it clear that he wasn't prepared to share a room with the drunken trio in case they decide to get up and stink up the whole room.

Seifer took Zell, along with Selphie and Irvine into their room and Quistis went back down to reception to ask them to give the two rooms a wake up call at the earliest hour that she could think of that remained humane, but would allow them to get out early enough. She went back up and helped Seifer out with the trio before they gave up and exited the room. After they closed the door, the two of them could hear springs from a mattress crying out in complaint, and they knew that would be coming from the couple inside.

Quistis and Seifer shook their heads and laughed. Seifer threw an arm around Quistis' shoulder and it remained there until the time in which they stopped laughing. Blue eyes met green ones, staring deeply at one another and their lips met, soft and gentle. But in a short period they became more fierce and intense as Quistis backed Seifer against the wall, her hands roamed over his chest as his moved down to her waist. Seifer reached out to grab the door handle to open the door.

It opened and the couple rushed inside, the door slammed shut as Seifer quickly pressed Quistis' body against it, never breaking from the intense kiss that they were in. Her hands gripped the lapels of his trench coat and she pulled it down as he undid her red tie, roughly and quickly unbuttoning her jacket and ripped it off her. Quistis threw her arms around his neck as he grabbed her legs and lifted her off the ground and settled her on the nearest table so that he stood in between her thighs.

His hands roamed to her back as he nuzzled his face into her neck and started to bite with his teeth at now-exposed bare skin and flicked his tongue out. Quistis moaned and dug her nails into his muscular shoulders and that gave him the motivation to unclip her red bra and allow it to fall from her shoulders. He too started felt himself growing hard and aroused and he slowed down his movements into more slow and passionate ones.

Quistis reached down and pulled off his white t-shirt over his head and then ran her hands up his toned body before bringing them back behind his neck. Seifer knelt down beside her and pulled off her boots, one by one before unzipping her skirt and pulled them off to reveal her red underwear. He stood up and met her lips once again before lifting her off the table and carried her to the bed, where he laid her down gently on her back as he positioned himself in between her legs.

The sequence of actions that followed was a blur for them as the moon continued to shine though the window and lit up their bare skin.

* * *

His eyes opened and still realised that he was still in his daze. His barely opened eyes saw that he was in a very dark place, hardly any light was present and then Squall's eyes fully opened then.

'Where am I?' he asked himself. 'Where's Rinoa?'

"I can read your thoughts, young knight," a deep voice came from the shadows. Then Diablos showed himself. "I see that you're awake, you fell into a slumber and I brought both you and the sorceress to my lair."

Squall sat up and looked up at Diablo's demonic features.

"Where is she?" Squall asked, almost in a snarl.

Diablos laughed.

"Oh the sorceress?" he asked. "She's fine, and awake. But still isn't ready to fight those cursed SeeD's, I will take care of them until our mistress is strong enough."

The gunblader stood up and held his head.

"You're…under her control too?"

"Yes I am, young knight. For I'm the one who had caused the chaos of these past two years! All because of her, Shiva was the one who I made to chase down the sorceress and give her Ultimecia's power," Diablos explained. "But Shiva didn't want to and I force to do so or risk her own painful extermination." He laughed. "Now that Ifrit and Shiva are on their side, they expect to fight me only…but I still have some friends who are willing to fight."

Squall nodded.

"Good, our mistress will be pleased. Where is she?"

Diablos motioned his arms and Rinoa walked out of the shadows, her head bowed.

"Rinoa?"

"Squall…" Rinoa looked up at him and even from the distance that he stood at, he had noticed something different. Her eyes were like that of Edea's when she was possessed. Honey-coloured and emotionless. "…Squall…my knight, we will prevail against pain and use it to our advantage. I will need, however to regain my strength before I can fight."

Squall knelt down onto one knee as she approached him.

"Yes…my mistress."

She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Rise my knight, you don't need to bow to me to prove your loyalty as you have already shown by getting me out of that prison," she explained and looked to Diablos. "Prepare your servants Diablos, I sense a battle fore coming."

* * *

His hand ran down her side, calloused fingers gliding over smooth, soft skin, staring into each other's eyes as the moon lit the room. They were lying close to each other, skin damp with sweat and the sheet tangled to their naked bodies. Her slender hand reached up to his face and ran down the defined jaw line.

"I heard you fought Ifrit on your own," Quistis said softly, almost in a whisper. "Tell me all about it."

Seifer sighed and rolled onto his back as Quistis laid an arm across his chest. He touched her shoulder and she flinched when he made contact, then realising she only just injured that left one.

"…I was almost defeated and ready to give up," he explained and closed his eyes to try and recall the event. "But then somehow upon hearing your name from the other two that I was able to find that last ounce of strength for one, last powerful attack. So then I just unleashed with such power that I too couldn't believe that I was capable of it."

Quistis wanted to say something, but he continued.

"Afterwards, I just launched off him and hovered above him, drawing the Fire Cross and then it exploded. I have never seen so much power in my life…then I realised where that power came from."

Quistis looked up at him and he met her gaze.

"…It was from you. Thinking about you gave me the strength to fight as you are the one thing that I would fight for…and that thing was love."

She looked down until he lifted her chin up with a finger and stared into her eyes once again.

"Quistis, I love you and would fight and die for you if I had to."

The blonde woman felt the tears build in her eyes, she never would have believed that he would say something like that…so she thought she'd better say something.

"Seifer…I love you too and I would do anything for you," she said and placed her leg between his and ran her hand up his chest. "And I would also fight and die for you."

He smiled and cupped her cheek and locked his lips with hers, almost as if he was afraid of breaking her. This was probably the last time after tonight that they would be this close to one another, they were heading into a battle in which they knew that there was the high possibility of one of them not making it out alive.

* * *

A/N: A nice bit of romance before the storm breaks. What will happen? Will they all survive, or will they find themselves entering a losing battle? Keep reading to find, we're one chapter closer to the end with still more left to write. I wonder how this is all going to end. Next chapter: Seifer, Quistis, Irvine and Selphie go back to Esthar to search for Diablos and Zell prepares everyone for battle as they near their destinations.


	15. The Hunt is On

A/N: And so the hunt begins. The SeeD's will be joined by two familar former guardians as they search for the dark prince. Keep reading and enjoy! I will soon be planning out the next story of the trilogy.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it as they are the property of Square.

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Blue eyes opened groggily and stared down the room at the door. He wanted to lift his head, but his head felt heavy like a bag of cement and he couldn't lift it. It throbbed and ached for the majority of the day and he was left in this position.

"Arghh! Why did I have to drink so much?" Zell groaned and found the energy to sit himself up, holding his head in his hands. "Dammit, why did Quisty put me in this position?"

The doors flew open, Nida and the higher ranked Galbadian SeeD's entered. They had instantly noticed the young commander's condition, but refrained from laughing.

"Zell, the SeeD team have left in an Estharian aircraft and we are ready to disembark," Nida said. "Shall I set us off?"

Zell moaned and slammed his head down.

"…Just do whatever you have to do…"

Nida nodded slowly and raised an eyebrow before leaving, wondering what could have possibly got the young man into the condition that he was in. The Galbadians took their places around the room as Marcus took a seat in front of Zell.

"I see that you couldn't handle good old Galbadian whisky," he mentioned and Zell snapped his gaze up at him. Marcus just laughed. "Don't look so surprised Dincht! I too did become a victim of the good stuff, drunk under the table by Irvine."

Zell cursed under his breath, all he couldn't remember was Irvine laughing just before Zell passed out.

"Fuck you Irvine…I'll get him for this…"

The group of Galbadians laughed.

"You know it is wishful thinking," one of them replied, he was only little bit taller than Zell. "Guys like us can't beat the likes of Irvine, he can handle his drinks well."

Marcus nodded.

"You know, drinking water might help you with that hangover," he said, getting up. "I'll go and get some for you and then we can discuss teams for the three destinations."

He and the Galbadians walked out and left Zell alone with his headache.

'I wonder how the others are doing…'

* * *

Irvine walked out of the bathroom and made his way to the hanger where Quistis, Seifer and Selphie were. He held his head as it felt like it was too much weight for his neck to handle. He couldn't remember anything about last night after the point of Zell passing out and then waking up in a hotel room with Selphie, naked and Zell was lying out cold in the bed next to them. The next thing that happened was Seifer running in with a cold bucket of water and hurled its contents at them.

'Damn…' he thought and pressed the button to get into the hanger. He got in and saw Quistis and Seifer in deep conversation and Selphie cleaning her weapon. Just why wasn't she throwing up and hungover like he was?

"Hey…Selphie?"

She looked up at him and gave him one of her beaming smiles.

"Yes Irvy, what can I do for you?"

"How come you haven't got a hangover?"

She giggled.

"Because…I wasn't drunk!"

Seifer and Quistis looked over at her, just as wide-eyed as the cowboy at the doorway.

"So…you were in control of your own actions?" Quistis asked. Selphie nodded and the blonde laughed. "Oh, so that explains why you went to the bar just before I did."

"Yep, my bottle was filled with water!"

Irvine's jaw dropped and everyone began to laugh. He felt like a complete idiot, he was getting drunk on his own while everyone else was taking shots of…water.

"Damn!" He cursed and pointed a finger at them. "You dirty cheaters!"

"Irvine…" Quistis began. "We all know about your reputation over at Galbadia Garden, so instead of letting you drink us under the table, we all came up with the idea to beat you at your own game."

He felt that familiar urge again and before every knew it, he was straight out of the door and everyone snickered they heard hurling noises coming from down the corridor.

"Quiet down there!" Seifer called out. "Looks like the soldiers won't be going in there for a while."

Quistis looked over to Selphie.

"Why did you pretend to be drunk?"

The brunette looked at the blonde.

"Simple, to make things more interesting."

The two blondes rolled their eyes and looked at each other. The previous night was their first time of actually being close together, other than that time in Esthar just to tease Zell and Irvine, since the time in the classroom. Since then, they both had been too injured or occupied in other matters to even share one special moment with one another, and maybe for Seifer it had helped him to deal with his guilt about his one-night stand with her best friend a little bit.

But it still didn't excuse him for what they did.

"So, once we get a team together, where do we go from there?" he asked.

Quistis looked away, staring at the wall instead.

"We'll probably head out in the morning so that we have most of the day to explore," she replied and crossed her arms. "I heard up north there are a lot of nocturnal monsters, so I figured it would be safer to go during the day."

He nodded and looked away from her. Irvine appeared in the doorway again and walked in, he settled down next to Selphie and sighed.

"Hope that is the last time I have to do that," he mumbled and looked over to the happy trio, who were all grinning over at him. "Don't fuckin' look at me like that, it's your fault that I'm like in this condtion."

Seifer chuckled.

"Self-control, cowboy. You need to learn it."

Irvine chuckled bitterly.

"And this comin' from a person that was all hungover in the Quad and laying on the bench, then goes and throws up in the bushes in front of everyone."

Seifer was about to stand up, until Quistis motioned him to remain seated and then her icy cold gaze looked at the cowboy.

"Enough...the both of you. No one wants to hear it," she demanded and sighed. "Now can we keep focussed?"

The other three moaned and remained silent.

* * *

The doors flew open in front of him. Laguna watched as the four SeeD's emerged from the airstation, in hopes to see Squall amongst them. However, his smile lessened slightly when he noticed that his son wasn't with them.

He still didn't know about what had happened, nobody had told him and there he was, standing there and still left in the dark while Squall is who knows where. But at least he was still happy enough to help the SeeD's in whatever way he can.

"Laguna," Quistis said. "Have you made the arrangements?"

He nodded and looked around at everyone.

"Yes, I have," he replied. "It's a pleasure to see the four of you again." He looked back down at Quistis. "Wouldn't Squall usually be with you?"

Everyone else remained silent, refusing to say anything. Quistis looked back at them and they all met her gaze as if to say that she had to be the one to break the news. She sighed and looked back at dark-haired man in front of her.

'Why is it always me to break bad news?' she thought. 'But…maybe now isn't a good time.'

"Laguna…can we possibly meet up tonight? I have to explain something to you."

Laguna smiled and bowed.

"Of course, I'll be in the palace tonight. We can talk then."

The blonde woman nodded and Laguna led the team down the road.

Later that day, after the sun had set, Irvine was lying face down on his bed, trying to block out the noises that the other two were creating during rounds of Triple Triad. They were constantly arguing over moves being illegal or Selphie accusing Seifer of cheating…but unaware to her that he was the one who had defeated the CC group single handily. He gritted his teeth and started grinding it, seeing if it would make things better, but they weren't and he was hoping that Quistis would get back soon and whoop all their asses after he learned through Squall that she was the King of the CC group and lost to her.

"Oh come on! You can't do that!" Selphie complained as Seifer won the round. "Why do you keep winning?"

Seifer chuckled and smirked.

"Because, I'm just so good."

Selphie rolled her eyes.

"Not from what Quistis had told me."

Seifer's eyes snapped at her, giving her a dangerous look as he narrowed them.

"What? What did she say to you?"

Selphie giggled.

"Nothing."

"It sure as hell didn't sound like nothing. Now spit it out!"

Irvine sat up and stared at the two.

"Guys, can we turn sound the noise level ten notches or something?" He demanded and slumped onto his back. "I still have this pounding headache and it won't go away."

The two of them looked at him.

"Sorry Irvy," Selphie said and got up to lay down beside him, holding him around the waist. Seifer rolled his eyes, he had never known anyone who would be so weak after a hard night, not even the women would end up like him.

"Seriously Irvine, harden the fuck up," Seifer said. "You can't honestly be that bad."

Irvine threw Selphie off him, allowing her to fall to the floor as the tall cowboy looked over at the ex-knight.

"Trust me, it's like having a bag of cement in your head, he replied and sighed. "I wonder how Quistis is going with Laguna."

Seifer didn't answer straight away and instead looked out of the window. He thought of how Laguna would react to the news about his own son being possessed by a sorceress and out there to possibly destroy the world…he figured that Laguna wouldn't take it so well.

"I can't say," he replied and looked back over. "It all depends on how Quistis explains it all."

He looked back out. He understood the situation that Squall was in, but also at the same time there were things at he didn't understand about it. Squall volunteered to be Rinoa's knight, but at the same he fought against Seifer and Ultimecia, while Seifer basically had no choice in the matter as Edea lured him into a trap.

"_Come with me to a place of no return…"_

And that's how it was, he couldn't get out no matter how much he tried. Seifer tried so hard to fight the temptation of the sorceress, but she managed to manipulate him back and kept a close hold of him just like a puppet and its master, a spider and its prey trapped in its web. Seifer was being that prey and Ultimecia was the spider who had spun the web. However, there was a side of him that hoped that Leonhart would see some sense and try to break free from Rinoa and come back to them…although he highly doubted it.

* * *

Quistis approached the door to Laguna's penthouse, reaching up to knock on the wooden door. Since they had arrived, she locked herself in her room and pondered over what to say to a man that has no idea of his son is doing, that he hurt and killed innocent people and destroyed half of the very thing that he had sworn to protect.

Like Quistis and the other SeeD's, Squall had taken an oath to protect Garden and the world from such evil sorceresses created, but Squall had broken that oath and had become a great threat to Garden and to the world and it was her duty to stop it. But in her mind at the same time, she was confused. Should she let him roam free and murder people mercilessly just as Seifer done under Ultimecia's reign and cause another sorceress war, or kill her former student and friend to save the world while in process of breaking her heart? Quistis just couldn't make either decision, no matter the circumstance.

The door opened and Laguna stood there. He looked at the young blonde woman and saw that something was troubling her. He motioned her in and Quistis walked past and stood in the middle of the circular room.

"Sorry, but I can't stay long," she said and turned to face him. "I'll just say what I came here to say as it was too important to say over the phone."

He nodded and walked over to a chair and sat down, offering a seat opposite him.

She walked over and took the vacant seat, folding her hands in her lap and gazed at the man in front of her. Quistis took a deep breath and started talking.

"The reason why Squall isn't with us is…that something had happened over at Garden at involved him and he is in serious trouble because of it," she explained.

Laguna raised a dark eyebrow.

"So what are you saying?"

"Half of Balamb Garden was heavily damaged in a recent attack, Squall was the one responsible…he and Rinoa and they just left, leaving many injured and killed. The time that we had all feared is upon us once again."

Laguna's eyes widened and he stood up, wordlessly and walked out to the balcony. Quistis sighed and looked down.

'Well done Quistis…that went really well, didn't it?'

'Shut up conscience. I can give him an explanation, I can tell him…'

'You can, but do you really think it will do any good? Will it make the pain go away?'

'I said…SHUT THE FUCK UP!' Quistis screamed in her mind. Maybe she should asking the one living thing that always gave her good advice. 'Shiva, are you there?'

'_Yes mistress, how can I assist you,' Shiva replied._

'Shiva, what do you think I should do?'

'…_Explain to him and try to settle him. If you do this, then the grief will be easier for him to cope with.'_

'Thank you Shiva.'

Quistis stood up and walked out to the balcony, where Laguna was standing at railing and was looking down at the city. She approached him carefully and stood by his side, neither one of them looking at one another, but out to the glowing metropolis. The two of them then, reminded Quistis of the time with her Squall in the Secret Area, telling him of her demotion. It was like that as there was that familiar awkward silence, and then she spoke.

"It was bound to happen eventually," she spoke softly. "But I too wished that it would never. Maybe in the back of his mind that he was thinking the same."

Laguna looked over at her and saw that she was nearly in tears. Obviously it cut deep in her, and that the knife was still in the wound and twisting to make the pain worse. He could only imagine how they would all be feeling, they had known him for the majority of his life, from childhood to adulthood and well…he only met his son during the war after seventeen years. So whatever Laguna was feeling couldn't have compared to what Quistis and the other SeeD's were feeling. Squall was like a brother to them, comrade in arms and someone everyone had admired and depended on to get them through the tough times.

But now he was gone and the pain was like that of losing a member of the family.

He reached out and pulled the young woman in her arms, allowing her to free the built up tears and instantly felt the relief that her tears brought her. She had been bottling her emotion for those past few weeks and it actually felt good to actually let go.

"Hey, he'll come around," Laguna said in her ear. He brought his head back trying to look into her eyes. He tilted her head back with a finger and stared to those blue pools and gave a small smile. "I know he will…the both of them will, you just have to keep faith and do whatever you need to do."

She continued to gaze at him. Was he asking to?

"…So…if we had to face him…but what if we…"

Laguna took a step back.

"If it is for the good of the world, for you SeeD's to abide by the oath you have taken," he replied. "Then do it and don't worry about what others might think, your duty as a SeeD should come number one above all else in order to provide a safe future for our children. So that they don't have to live in a world full of fear. Do you understand?"

Quistis nodded.

"Good, then you better get back to your quarters," he said. "You have a long day ahead of you."

She walked to the door leading back into the room and then looked back at him.

"You know, he actually loved you. He just didn't know how to express himself." Quistis continued walking out and left Laguna alone on that balcony. He sighed and looked back out to the city.

'Well, it's too late now I guess.'

* * *

Rows and more rows of SeeD were assembled at the Garden entrance. All of their gazes were fixed to the front, not moving or wandering and they stood perfectly still with their weapons by their side. The other two teams were gone as they were heading to their final destination, with a one-armed Zell standing at the front and dishing out the orders just as Seifer or Quistis would have done.

"Right! This is it people!" He bellowed to them. "We have been ordered to clear the remaining monsters out of the town at have made their way from the surrounding plains!"

He began to walk along the front line, still keeping his gaze fixed on every single soldier.

"We are going to Balamb, in which is where most of our families are and we are to keep on fightin' until every single fuckin' monster is dead! Galbadian or not, there is no right to stop fighting, protect this place just like it was your own home! Am I clear?"

Every single Galbadian and Balamb SeeD saluted. Amongst the mix, down at the back were some SeeD candidates and cadets who were heading into their first real battle outside of Balamb Garden. Zell wanted as many people fighting as possible, obviously he couldn't due to his shoulder but he wanted to make sure that Garden was going to be safe as well.

"Yes sir!" They all replied. Zell looked to his right and saw Marcus who approached him.

"They're in your hands," Zell said quietly to him. "Make sure if there are any problems that you send someone to me."

The tall man nodded.

"I will send someone with regular updates. You'll be up in the office, won't you?"

Zell nodded to confirm.

"Yes, either that or I might sneak into my mother's house once things calm a little."

He looked over to Nida.

"Prepare radio contact with Esthar so that they can send reinforcements if we need it. Also to radio the other two locations for updates."

Nida saluted and ran off past the troop. Zell looked up ahead and saw the coastline of Balamb fast approaching.

* * *

The SeeD team drove out to the meeting point, north from the city itself. It was still reasonably early, but Irvine at least seemed to be in better spirits.

"How are you this morning anyway?" Quistis asked as the four of them got out of the car and started walking to a group of people.

He smiled and gave her a wink.

"Just like I have been reborn and ready to fight."

Seifer rolled his eyes and looked at her.

"How long do you think it will take us to find him?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"I honestly don't know, it depends how far in the forest he is," she replied and pointed to the group ahead. "That must be them there."

Out of the group, she could noticeably recognise Kiros and Ward and they were accompanied by three Estharian soldiers. They stopped in front of them and then Kiros looked at Quistis.

"Did you get my message this morning?"

She nodded.

"Yes, and we brought them."

The other three looked at her as they had no clue as in what she was talking about.

"What did you bring?" Selphie asked.

"I told her to make everyone bring another set of clothing," Kiros replied. "I know about Squall and Rinoa, you four will be targets as they can recognise more easily in your clothes, so I told Quistis to make sure you all bring something else."

"So what now?" Seifer asked.

Quistis turned around to him.

"Get changed."

He looked around.

"What? Here?"

She nodded.

"Yes, it's no different than to your field exam."

A few minutes later they all changed. Seifer changed into a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt while Irvine did likewise, except for that he wore a white shirt. Quistis wore a white tanktop and blue jeans with her usual pair of boots, and Selphie just wore a tracksuit. Seifer went over to the car and dumped all of their clothing, including his beloved trench coat, into the back seat and went back to the group.

"Ok, are we all ready?" Kiros asked.

Seifer looked around at the group.

"I think so, let's get going."

Meanwhile, somewhere nearby. Diablos hovered above the trees and held that the SeeD's were near. He grinned as they were about to fall into his trap. He motioned his hand and two GF's emerged. Quezacotl and Eden joined Diablos side.

"Do not fail me, they are not to reach the cave," he ordered, then… "But leave the two blondes alive, I think that's what our mistress has requested. GO!"

They flew off into the clouds. The clouds turned grey as the storm began to start brewing.

* * *

A/N: The hunt between SeeD and GF alike is just heating up, this chapter was just warming up to the action filled chapters ahead as we head towards the end. Thanks for those who are reading and following this story so far, I see that people are actually enjoying this and even adding it to their favourites and it is a real pleasure to write for each and every one of you. Thanks for the support and hopefully you will keep reading my works :) Next chapter: The battle is on between GF and SeeD as they trudge through the forest towards the cave, the monster situation in Balamb gets heated and two of our major characters get seriously injured while trying to save everyone else!

**Chapter Fifteen: The Hunt is On**


	16. The Ultimate Sacrifice

A/N: I was going to make this chapter even longer, but the stuff at I planned for the end of this chapter would be more suited for the next one. Enjoy it, we are only just a few chapters from the end and I have already planned out the third and final story.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

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* * *

****Chapter Sixteen: The Ultimate Sacrifice**

It was looking like of being a hopeless campaign. Most of the day had passed and it was late afternoon. In the midst of the thick forest, they had checked the majority of the caves and found nothing. Now it was getting close to nightfall and their stay in the forest was well past their deadline. But there was something out of the ordinary, the skies would be a shining orange colour. But Quistis noticed it was gray, and it had turned gray very quickly.

She looked up and scanned the skies. No blue patches could be seen and thunder was heard. She was hoping that Selphie, Irvine and Kiros would get out of the cave soon so that they could leave.

"This is unusual," she said. Seifer and Ward looked over to her and saw where she looking, They too looked up and saw what had astonished her. "Usually the sky would be on fire at this time."

"Maybe a storm's coming," Seifer added. "How would that be unusual?"

Quistis shook her head and looked at him and he did likewise.

"Think about it, why has it gone like this so quickly? Esthar rarely has storms."

"Hey!" Selphie's voice boomed and Quistis looked past Seifer. She walked over to the shorter woman and looked around at Kiros and Irvine.

"What did you find?"

Irvine shook his head.

"Nothing, just like the others," he replied and sighed. "Maybe we won't find anything."

"Don't be so sure," Kiros replied and looked at Quistis. "I know of one other cave a couple of miles west of here. We should check it out."

Seifer looked back up at the sky. It was starting to get dark.

"We better get going then. Monsters come out here at night and we don't really want to be caught out."

Selphie ran up the trail and pointed.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

She and Irvine ran ahead as the other four started walking after them, unaware of the storm lurking nearby.

_

* * *

_

_BOOM! BOOM!...ROAR!_

A middle-aged woman was standing at her sink, cleaning the dirty dishes that the neighbours kids had left and hadn't even bothered to bring over. It had reminded her of a time when Zell was that young and she had to clean up after him.

_BOOM! CRASH!_

She looked up, Ma Dincht had thought that she had warned those damned kids to keep the noise down. She already had a pounding headache and she didn't need them to create noise to make it worse.

Making her way to the living room, rolling pin in hand, she stopped in the doorway and saw them laying on the ground and sound asleep. Well if it wasn't them, then where was that noise coming from?

A smashing sound gave her an answer, whipping her head around to see her kitchen window in shatters and saw monster after monster walking past her house. She took a few steps back and closed the door, picking up the phone nearby and hoping to get in contact with the one person that she could rely on.

"Zell?" She asked when the phone picked up.

"_Yeah Ma, what's goin' on?" _

She opened the door slightly and peered out of the window.

"The monsters are still here, have you sent someone to come and take care of them?"

Zell sighed from the other side of the phone. He was sitting in the chair and gazed up into the sky. Balamb Garden had only docked back into its usual spot just fifteen minute earlier and already his mother was onto him.

"Well we had to take care of the monster problems in two other towns, and of course they are still there because we only just got back," he explained to his mother calmly. "A team has only just left and they should be there in ten minutes."

"_Are you comin'?"_

"No Ma, my arm is busted and I can't just leave, I have to stay here in case Quistis and the others…"

"_What happened to that reckless son of mine? You don't need to fistfight, didn't they teach you how to shoot guns in that school of yours?"_

That made Zell wonder. He did gain the second highest score in the shooting range for all time and his skills could have made him a sharpshooter, but Quistis told him that there were no martial artists in the forces and she thought he would be a better asset to SeeD as that rather than a gunman.

He looked over to Nida, who was sitting in the corner reading a copy of Weapons Monthly.

"I'll be there as soon as I can, hang tight."

He hung up the phone and stood up. Nida looked up and saw Zell heading to the gun cabinet that Irvine had put up here. He unlocked it and looked at the vast collection of rifles.

"Zell, what are you doing?"

Zell picked out the first one off the rack and grabbed pocketfuls of normal ammo and pulse ammo. Irvine will probably kill him for using his pulse ammo, but Zell will make it up to him later.

"I'm going down there," he said and ran to the door. "You stay here and tell the others if they call that I'll be in Balamb."

Before Nida could respond, Zell was already out the door and the young SeeD slumped back in his chair.

* * *

The wind blew fiercely as they neared the last cave of the forest. It was all calm five minutes ago and within a split second the weather had turned for the worst. Seifer cursed and swore as he stopped and looked around. Something was wrong here, usually storms would gradually get worse, not within seconds and exploding in their faces like an atomic bomb.

"Fucking Hyne!" He swore and everyone stopped. "We need to get out of this wind or otherwise we're gonna get blown away!"

Irvine held his hat down as it was about to fly off and looked up. He saw what Seifer meant, but there was something else. Two dark figures flew above them and it sure as hell wasn't clouds. He pointed up.

"Look! Something is up there!" He yelled out so that everyone could hear him above the noise of the gust. The rest looked up and their eyes widened, not taking any chances they drew their weapons and started to walk backwards.

"We need to split up!" Quistis shouted.

Irvine looked back at her and nodded.

"Good idea!" He replied. "You, Seifer and Kiros head off and go towards the cave! We'll distract them long enough so that you get out of the storm!"

"No! We have to lure it!"

"But Quisty! If one of them follow you, then Diablos will run away!" Selphie explained. "We can't let him do that!"

Quistis sighed and looked up at Seifer.

"Come on, they can handle it!" He said and looked at Kiros. "How far away are we?"

"About a few hundred metres!" The dark man replied.

Seifer grabbed the blonde woman's hand and lead her up the trail. Just as they were out of sight, a massive lightning bolt landed in front of Irvine's feet and he jumped back.

"Shit! That was close!"

Next thing that they knew was something sped overhead and nearly knocking them off the side of the mountain. Irvine looked up and saw what was in front of him. There were two of them…Quezacotl and Eden. The massive lightning-clad bird took off in the direction of the other three and Eden remained hovering in front of the cowboy. He sat up and looked around for his team-mates. Ward was standing up straight, and Selphie was…face down on the ground.

"Selphie!" He screamed before jumping up and grabbing Exeter. He pulled the trigger to fire a round and with a loud boom it hit the GF…before reflecting back and hitting Irvine in the shoulder. He cried out in the pain as the bullet dug into his flesh and formed a hole. He dropped his weapon and Eden began to gather up energy, Irvine was as good as dead. He bowed his head and then the sound of something fast flew past him, he looked up and saw a harpoon in the GF as it cried out. The cowboy looked back at Ward and smiled and then looked up at the GF before he fainted, he had lost too much blood.

* * *

Balamb was already a battle zone. Dead monsters filled the streets, their blood stained the cobblestone roads and the residents were sealed inside their houses as the SeeD's fought against these menaces. Marcus sliced down a Geezard and looked around.

Despite the fact the monster numbers were going down, the SeeD numbers were declining as well. But most of the SeeD's were inexperienced in the field and haven't had much experience against wild fiends.

A van pulled up nearby and Zell jumped out of the driver's side. Rifle in hand and ready for action. The tall SeeD was wide eyed at the one-armed commander, we couldn't stay away from the action.

"What are you doing here, Dincht?"

Zell laughed and shot at an oncoming monster.

"I'm here to shoot some fuckin' ass!" He replied and ran off. "Ya comin' or what?"

Marcus laughed at Zell's recklessness and chased after him.

The wind wasn't settling down and visibility was getting worse. This wasn't a good place to be stuck in.

Seifer whipped his head around as he ran and saw a familiar dark figure behind them.

"Shit!" He cursed and looked forward. "We got one on our tail!"

Kiros looked back.

"Damn! Duck!"

The three of them dove onto the ground as Quezacotl swooped at them. They quickly got back up and continued to run. The cave was just up ahead, but they had to fight it. Kiros stopped and other two stopped.

"Keep going!" He yelled. "I'll hold it off long enough for you to reach Diablos!"

They both nodded and continued to run.

Meanwhile, Ward stared at Selphie and Irvine's unconscious bodies, then to the dead GF nearby. He walked over and pulled out his harpoon. There were footsteps nearby and he aimed in the direction that they came from.

Esthar soldiers emerged from the slope, followed by Laguna who had his machine gun, loaded and ready to go. Of course Ward couldn't speak in surprise of the president's presence, but Laguna could tell.

Laguna walked over to the bodies of the young SeeD's and looked over to his soldiers.

"Take them back down to the city, time is crucial! I'll stay here and help Ward out!"

The soldiers saluted and gathered up Irvine and Selphie. Laguna went over and placed a hand on the big man's shoulder.

"Where are the others?"

Ward nodded and pointed up the trail. Laguna nodded and motioned Ward to follow as he ran up the track.

"Over here!" Zell called out and pointed to a door. Marcus rushed over and rammed at it with his shoulder. It took a few tries, but eventually he got it down and Zell jumped over him and ran inside.

* * *

The house appeared to be empty and he walked over to the stairs and looked up. No one, but that's what he had expected as he told people directly not to go up there, including his girlfriend. He remembered the time of the raid on Balamb and he had to bring his team up to his room…

_Quistis looked around in wonder, as if she had discovered a wonderful treasure. The room was neat and everything was stacked on shelves and in closets. _

"_This is neat for a guys room," she said and looked over to Squall, who was wandering around and gazing at Zell's things. _

_He eventually turned his attention to the punching bag in the corner and started pounding at it. Zell looked at him and rushed over. _

"_Hey man! Careful with that, punch any harder and you will bring the roof down upon us."_

_Squall took a step back and crossed his arms. Quistis laughed before walking to the mirror to fix her hair a little before glancing at the thing next to her. _

"_Zell, didn't your T-board get confiscated at Garden?" _

_Zell chuckled and went over to lean on the board. _

"_Yeah, well when you ride them around Garden you just have to have a spare one in case."_

_Quistis giggled and looked over at Squall._

"_Hey Squall, have I ever told you about Zell's famous incident?"_

_Squall raised a curious eyebrow at her and shook his head._

"_Well, he was riding around the halls until he crashed and landed in the girls bathroom…"_

"_Hey!" Zell exclaimed and snapped his head at her, face completely red. Squall smiled at Zell's misfortune. _

Zell rubbed the back of his head. He turned to walk out until his face met a very familiar rolling pin. Zell stumbled back onto the wall, gripping his now broken nose, that started to bleed.

"The hell?" He looked up and saw his mother. "Ma! What the hell did ya do that for?"

She reached over and helped him up.

"Sorry Zell, I thought you were someone that broke in."

He bent down to pick up his gun and continued to hold his nose.

"Obviously I'm not. I just thought I'd drop in and check up on ya…"

"Zell! Get down to the docks!"

He sighed and looked back at his mother.

"Gotta go! Duty calls."

She smiled and moved to the side.

"Come back once ya done!"

Zell looked back and winked at her before departing.

* * *

Kiros was on his knees, exhausted and was about to give in. He had weakened the bird enough for someone else to finish it off, but Quezacotl had used its Thunder Storm attack twice already and Kiros couldn't handle anymore electricity. He needed something with a bit more fire power to finish it, but his magic stocks ran dry a long time ago and he had no energy to perform his Bloodfest.

"Kiros!"

A grenade exploded in front of him, stunning the GF before a hail of gunfire whizzed past Kiros' ear. Another explosion erupted and the bird appeared to have weakened even further. The dark man looked back and saw the familiar sight of his friends before looking up at the sky, which had started to clear and then Ward threw his harpoon at the GF and it fell to the ground. The two them walked over and assisted Kiros to his feet.

"Thanks guys," he said. "The other two are in the cave, we need to get resources ready."

Laguna nodded and looked at the GF.

"We will, and we need to have Odine up here too. I think these GF's will be of some use to us."

Inside the cave, Seifer and Quistis stopped running after realising that they were no longer chased. Seifer hunched over, trying to catch his breath and he looked back down the direction that they came from.

"Looks like there is no turning back," he said and looked back ahead. "We must be getting close."

Quistis walked up to the corner of the path and motioned Seifer to join her.

"Come here, I think this might be it…"

* * *

A/N: The big one is coming up, and I will not leave a summary for it either. I wonder what is going to happen, I hope you all will enjoy it and I can say this...there will be a surprise installed and I'm not saying where. Enjoy!


	17. The Dark Prince

A/N: Here is the chapter that you all have been waiting for. Now I must warn all of you that there will be a twist in it that will basically will be setting up the final story in this trilogy. Enjoy guys!

Warnings: Possible major character death

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Seventeen: The Dark Prince**

Seifer walked over when Quistis motioned him over. She had her whip uncoiled and he didn't even know what was around the corner, but when he reached her he knew why. It was dark and empty, with only a few flame torches to illuminate the room. They had to be careful, Diablos could be anywhere and could attack at any moment. Seifer unsheathed Hyperion and planted his back flat against the wall and looked down at Quistis, who was rubbing her arms for warmth.

"Cold, eh?"

She looked at him and nodded before looking back ahead. Indeed it was cold and he felt himself freeze up a little, but there was no use in standing around. Maybe id they moved around then they would warm up a bit.

"Maybe we should go in?" He suggested and held his hand up. "Flare."

The fireball shot out of his hand and exploded against something on the other side. The room lit up and Seifer saw that he had managed to hit a throne of some kind.

"At least we have sufficient light now," Quistis said and they walked in.

It was too quiet, and Diablos didn't appear to be in sight. They looked up, down and around, but there was no sign of him. It was a dangerous place to be in at that point of time, Diablos was possessed by a sorceress and he had the ability to disappear whenever. What was even more unusual, the ground had begun to shake. Seifer looked down at the shifting rocks underneath his feet, he had a bad feeling about this one.

"He's still here," he said and looked up. "I can sense that witches presence."

Quistis looked up as well, she could sense it too. It was all too familiar for the two of them, it was Timber all over again and then…that familiar chant started echoing in their ears like the last time…only this time it was more haunting.

They looked at each other and stood back to back, weapons drawn and ready to fight.

"This can't be good," Quistis said as the ground shook with even more intensity. "The floor is going to crumble under us."

Seifer looked up and narrowed his eyes.

"Come on ya fuckin' coward!" He screamed. "Come down and show us what ya got! We're not scared of you motherfucker!"

Suddenly the roof cracked and began to collapse over them.

* * *

SeeD's flew backwards out of the docks, engulfed by flame and they were screaming as the pain was too much. Zell had to duck another one that flew at him, his shoulder was hurting badly and he began to wonder why he came out there. Maybe it was a bad idea in the first place.

"Damn, that was a close one," Zell muttered as he ducked again. "What the hell is doing this?"

Marcus looked at him and then back ahead and saw the answer to their problem. They were in for one tough fight. He pointed a long finger at a massive red dragon as it continued to shoot out a fury of fire and flare spells.

"There's your problem right there!"

Zell looked at the dragon and swallowed. He hated Ruby Dragons with a passion. A year before he got knocked out by one when he, Irvine and Rinoa were sent out to deal with one roaming around Dollet. Zell didn't even see the tail come around and before he had time to react, the tail of the several hundred pound dragons connected with the side of his head. Then he woke up to find himself in the Garden infirmary.

Now that he's got his chance, he can now get his revenge.

The two SeeD's stopped near the dragon and Zell lifted up the gun and fired at its head. He missed and the dragon stopped its fury and looked at them. Fire was released from its nose as Zell continued to hold the gun at it, glaring at it mercilessly.

"Come on, what are ya waiting for?"

The Ruby Dragon roared and it began to charge at the young SeeD's. Zell and Marcus charged towards it and the dragon neared them, they were only a few feet away from it before they eventually met in the middle.

* * *

Back in Esthar, Irvine laid in the hospital bed. He had been treated for his gunshot wound and was fully awake. Selphie was in the bed next to him, apparently the doctor said to him that she just received a mild electric shock and that she should be awake soon.

Laguna and Ward sat nearby as they watched the doctor treat Kiros for the electrical burn to his leg.

"You should make a full recovery," the doctor said. "But you should stay off that leg for a few days."

Kiros nodded and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Thank you doctor."

The doctor left and headed down the wing.

"So, they're in there?" Irvine asked as he painfully sat up against the wall, they looked at him. "Quistis and Seifer are in there with Diablos?"

Laguna stood and crossed his arms.

"Yes, from what Kiros had said earlier," he replied. "He urged them to go ahead and he was going to distract the GF long enough so that they can get to him."

Irvine closed his eyes. He remembered that he and Diablos had a close relationship with one another, and they could sense one another. So how was it that Diablos could…then it snapped to Irvine.

"Diablos was once my GF," Irvine explained and opened his eyes. "We can sense each other's presence…he can sense other GF's presence…" Irvine looked at Laguna. "And both Quistis and Seifer are junctioned with Shiva and Ifrit!"

Laguna's eyes widened and he looked at his two friends and then back at the cowboy.

"You mean…they've fallen into a trap?"

Irvine nodded.

"Yes, I think so…Damn!" He punched the mattress. "Why couldn't I have sense this earlier?"

The president motioned for a soldier to come in.

"Prepare a vehicle and a handful of your best men, commander," he said. "Meet me at the edge of the city in ten minutes and send an aircraft so I can get there quickly with some troops."

The soldier saluted and ran out. He turned to Ward.

"Go and prepare yourself as we may encounter some trouble and we need to be able to fight back."

The big man nodded and rushed out. Laguna looked down at the cowboy and rested a hand on his uninjured shoulder.

"It's not your fault Irvine," he said softly. "We had no idea that he was going to do that. And now that both Seifer and Quistis are in danger, we have to act quickly."

Laguna left the room and started running down the hospital wing. He remembered something that Quistis said to him. Squall and Rinoa are possessed by Ultimecia, and so was Diablos and…then it hit him.

'They're up there too! He had planned it all from the start!'

He ran even faster and out of the ward.

* * *

Blue eyes opened slowly. Her head was pounding and she had no idea as to what had just happened. They both heard noises and felt the ground shaking and before either of them could react, the whole world went black...

'Seifer?'

Quistis looked up and saw that she was still in that room, the only difference now was that there were large amount of rubble surrounding her. There was a large rock on her back and it had pinned her to the ground and now there was a sharp pain running up the entire length of her back. She tried looking for the young man in question, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Seifer!" She called out weakly.

There was no answer and silence soon followed and Quistis found herself being alone. She was going to die alone in that place, this was not how she had imagined it to end. But just as she was to give up hope, the rock shifted off her back and she was helped onto her feet. Quistis looked at the large hand on her shoulder and then slowly looked up and saw him.

"Seifer, are you hurt?"

He nodded and lifted up his shirt and turned around¸ there was a large gash running across his back and the blood now stained his entire lower back. Her eyes widened and she instantly cast a cure spell to help close the wound up. Seifer winced a little as he felt the separated skin close back up and he lowered his shirt.

"That was a close one," he said and looked past her. "What's that over there?"

Quistis spun around and when she saw something in the patch of darkness, she reached down to a holster wrapped her leg and pulled out a handgun and fired. The bullets reflected and both Quistis and Seifer dove to get out of its path. The creature flew into the light and at that point, their journey was over.

Diablos stood in front of them, arms crossed and a blank expression marked its pointed face.

"SeeD!" He growled, making the entire room shake. "Kurse all SeeD!"

Seifer and Quistis got their weakened bodies off the ground. Quistis' foot hit something and she looked down…her whip. Fortunately for her it was undamaged.

"How dare you come here! Capturing Shiva and Ifrit and putting them back into that prison and then coming here thinking that you can defeat me!" Diablos continued. "…No! My mistress won't allow it, if she and that knight were here then they wouldn't have allowed it!"

Seifer and Quistis looked at each other. So Squall did come here.

"Enough talk!" Seifer snarled and held a palm out. "Time to die!" He was just about to unleash until he felt the hilt of a gunblade crack into his skull. He collapsed and Quistis wanted to scream out to him, but the fear didn't allow her to. All see could do was look over her shoulder and looked into a set of steel blue eyes.

* * *

"Come on Zell, take the shot!" Marcus screamed at him, clutching onto his injured thigh. "He's weakened and all you need to do is to put the bullet into its skull!"

Zell stood above the dragon, which already had taken enormous amounts of Pulse Ammo and gunblade slashes. Now it laid on the ground, begging for mercy and left Zell in a moral dilemma.

"I don't know man," Zell replied, gun still held at the dragon's head. "It just doesn't seem right."

Marcus growled at Zell's foolishness.

"It's only a stupid fiend! Just fucking hurry up and shoot it! What do you think what will happen if you let it go? This town could be destroyed!"

Zell swore under his breath knew that the man was right. He had to do it, to protect his childhood home. He grit his teeth and pulled the trigger, averting his eyes to avoid watching the bullet going in. Marcus sighed in relief and limped over, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Hey! The monsters are retreating!" A SeeD nearby called to them. "They're clearing the streets!"

They both turned around.

"Let's go check it out," Zell said. "Then we'll depart and assist the other squads."

Stepping over the dead Ruby Dragon, they made their way out of the docks.

* * *

Frozen in place, all Quistis could do was stand there and look into the eyes of a former friend. But that view was soon turned back to Diablos as Squall wrapped his arm around her throat and the gunblade hovering just above her jaw.

"Squall…" She finally managed to utter out. "…Why?"

Diablos released a deep, hollow laugher throughout the cave.

"He won't listen to you," he said. "But I can explain everything."

With that, Diablos landed firmly on the ground and Quistis was forced onto her knees, with Squall firm weight holding her down painfully by the shoulder.

"We originally intended to just release me from the minds of Diablos and Shiva after I implanted myself into them," Ultimecia spoke, even though the words were coming from Diablos. "But I knew that my body was too weak to live in this world. So then I decided to send Shiva to transfer her portion of my soul into that girl."

Quistis closed her eyes and looked down.

'Rinoa? They were after Rinoa all this time.' She thought. 'Shit! We should had been more careful!'

She looked up.

"But why Rinoa? She was in full control of her powers."

"Yes, but you were there when she was under possession and released Sorceress Adel from that…prison that those Estharians placed her in," Ultimecia continued. "She maybe strong-hearted, but her mind is weak."

She should have known, everyone knew about the risk of keeping a sorceress at Garden. When Quistis told Squall to go and get Rinoa, she didn't think of the consequences. If only she hadn't convinced him of going to that damned memorial, then everyone wouldn't be in the position that they were in.

'I was…I think I was the fool back then.'

Diablos head turned to the side and he motioned his arm as if he was to summon someone to come forth. Quistis looked over to the shadows and her eyes widened at the sight. Rinoa emerged and stood by Diablos' side, her appearerance was like that of Edea's. Honey coloured eyes, veins appeared as if they were to burst from her temples. She looked over to where Quistis was, disgust over her new enemy was evident on her face.

"Quistis, how nice to see you again," she sneered. "For a moment there I didn't think that you were coming."

The instructor looked back down and closed her eyes, she wanted to block Rinoa's soft voice out. She didn't want her mind games to play with her. Rinoa turned to Diablos and raised her arm.

"Ultimecia! My body is strong!" She announced. "Junction unto me and be powerful once more!"

Quistis looked back up and witnessed the scene in front of her. A strange purple glow moved out of Diablos and into Rinoa, Ultimecia's spirit was transferring into Rinoa. This was the one situation that Quistis didn't want to be in alone, she began to think that it was the end. She looked to Seifer, who was still out cold and the panic began to build in her body.

'Seifer! Wake up!' She screamed in her mind. 'You have to get up!'

The glow disappeared and Diablos suddenly took flight. Rinoa bowed her head and looked down at her hands, they had become long and pointed, and she felt a great surge of power going through her. Her transformation was complete. She laughed and looked at Quistis, who still had her gaze fixed on Seifer. Rinoa sauntered over and knelt down beside him, his head was turned to the side and faced her. Quistis looked at the sorceress in the eyes and with a smirk, Rinoa leaned down and planted a kiss on Seifer's lips before pulling back. Quistis lurched forward to try and strike her, but Squall kept his tight grip on her shoulder. Quistis narrowed her eyes and tightened her jaw.

'That fucking bitch!'

Rinoa laughed and stood up.

"He really was pathetic," she said and took a few steps and threw her arm around Squall. "He could never compare with Squall, who is ten times the knight that Seifer ever was."

Quistis thrashed around, trying to break out of the iron grip that Squall had her in, but it was of no use. He had her right there and then, and the presence of both him and Rinoa was sickening to her now.

"You disgust me," Quistis snarled and looked up. "The both of you do."

"Hmph…" Rinoa motioned her arm out to the side at Squall and he nodded. He pushed Quistis forward and held his palm out.

"Stop," he hissed. Suddenly, Quistis felt her whole body freeze up and she couldn't move at all.

Squall and Rinoa turned to leave the cave and Quistis was helpless to stop them from doing so. Next to her she heard a noise, like a coat rustling off the ground, then she had gained some hope when she saw Seifer stumbled up on his feet, Hyperion in his hand and ready to strike.

"Where…where the fuck do you two think you're goin'?"

The pair turned around and saw the ex-knight, hunched over. But he was still willing to fight and he held his palm over Quistis.

"Esuna."

Her body unfroze and before she could even thank him, he took off after them. Both Squall and Rinoa made no intention to move out of the way, Quistis knew that something was wrong.

"Seifer! No!"

Squall smirked and as Seifer grew closer, the shining gleam of his gunbalde was revealed. In an instant's work, even before Seifer had any time to react, the point of the revolver drove straight through Seifer's torso, and came out the other side. Seifer gagged and instantly felt the life draining out of him. He looked down and saw the waterfall of blood leaking out and then it was gushing when Squall pulled his sword out. Seifer gave a grave smile before crumbling to the ground, landing in the pool of his own blood.

"Seifer!" Quistis screamed and she rushed over and fell to his side. "Seifer!" She shook him, but no response. Seifer was as good as dead.

"What a shame," Rinoa said and Quistis looked at her with nothing but pure hatred and burning desire. Rinoa laughed and raised her arm. "At least he won't die alone. Goodbye, Quistis…"

She built up an energy ball in her hand and with an effortless push, the ball was released and it had hit the ceiling. Squall and Rinoa disappeared out of thin air and Quistis looked up as falling rocks were crashing down around her. She looked down at Seifer and allowed a few tears to leave her eyes. Despite how much she didn't want to do it, she had to leave him to save herself.

'This is probably what he would have wanted,' she thought and closed her eyes. 'Goodbye, Seifer.'

She reached down, kissing him on the lips before grabbing Hyperion and getting up and started to run out she grabbed her whip that was lying near the entrance. Quistis pumped her legs as fast as she could as she tried to escape the main cave. She dove forward as the doorway sealed with a massive rock and with that, it was all over.

* * *

Just outside the cave, Laguna and Ward awaited with a small troop of soldiers. They were standing there in hopes that the couple inside would emerge, but their hopes were dashed as they heard the collapse.

"What was that?" Laguna asked.

The sound of falling rocks continued until they eventually stopped after a moment.

"I think the cave just collapsed," one of the soldiers replied. "Shall I organise a salvage team?"

Laguna shook his head.

"No captain, we'll just wait a few and…wait!" He narrowed his eyes to get a better look. "I think that's one of them now!"

Indeed it was, Quistis was limping towards them through the shaft, dragging Seifer's Hyperion by her side. Laguna motioned for two of the soldiers to go to her, one of them relieving her of the weapons and the other to support her. Laguna and Ward rushed over.

"Where's Seifer?" Laguna asked.

Quistis shook her head and the tears really began to stream down her face. She didn't answer him, instead she fell into his arms and held tightly to his waist, and sobbed heavily. Her tears was enough to answer him, and all he could do then was to hold the young woman in his strong arms like a father would do to his daughter. The storm clouds disappeared and the sun shone brightly, but it was still a dark day. Not just for Quistis and SeeD, but for the entire world.

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A/N: Well there we have it, who said that this was going to be one of those stories with a happy ending? Well it isn't quite done yet, we still have to have a glance at the aftermath.


	18. Farewells

A/N: Such a sad way to end a story, but not all stories have a happy ending. Well, here is the final chapter for this part of the trilogy. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII or anything related to it, they are the property of Square

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**Chapter Eighteen: Farewells**

It had only been two weeks since she escaped, and there weren't any sightings of either Squall or Rinoa. Quistis had immediately returned to Esthar and once she was back in the Presidential Palace, she wordlessly went to her room and locked the door. Turning on the water and stripped out of her torn clothing, Quistis stood underneath the hot spray and closed her eyes. She silently wept and the only thing on her mind was what had happened earlier that day, she had never felt so much pain in her life. The thought of losing someone that she had loved more than life itself was almost too much to bear She hadn't seen her friends for that two week period and she had figured it was time to inform them of what had happened.

It was mid-week and Laguna was escorting her to the reception room. Irvine and Selphie were discharged after a few days, but Laguna didn't tell them of Quistis' return. She sighed and stopped outside the door and looked down at the ground.

"It's hard, I know," Laguna said and placed a hand on her shoulder. "But you can't go on and carry this burden alone, you need your friends more than ever."

She looked up and nodded. Laguna pressed the button and the door opened, holding out his arm to allow Quistis to enter first. When she walked in, the two of them were in the middle of a game of Triple Triad. When they heard footsteps enter the room, they looked up and saw her.

"Quisty!" Selphie jumped up and rushed over, throwing her arms around the taller woman's neck. Irvine laughed and walked over, wrapping his arms around the two of them. They pulled back and looked at her.

"Hi guys, how have you been?"

Irvine shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno, we've been out for the past week and a half," Irvine replied. "But we've been ordered to take it easy for the next three months or so."

Quistis smiled weakly, happy that her friends were safe. This should have been a happy occasion, but somebody was missing and the other two knew that something was wrong.

"Quistis, what's going on?"

She sighed and sat down in a nearby chair, look down in her lap.

"…Seifer…he's dead…"

Irvine and Selphie both gasped. They were left speechless, but whatever they were feeling couldn't have measured up to what Quistis was probably feeling.

"It was Squall..." she continued and looked up, the water built up in her eyes. "Seifer…he tried to take him down, but Squall was too fast and struck Seifer down."

The two of them couldn't say anything and felt their hearts drop as Quistis once again burst into tears. All they could do was to drop down by her side and hold her. Laguna stood at the doorway and looked down, thinking of how his own flesh and blood could commit such a cruel act.

"I'll go and call Garden," he suggested and turned to leave. "I'll tell them to meet you at Fisherman's and explain what had happened, since you are in no condition to do so."

He left the room and the three SeeD's didn't take notice as they continued to grieve.

* * *

The only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock. The five people that occupied the office were trying to hold themselves together, afraid if they say anything that it would trigger an emotional waterfall. Four of them weren't only thinking of their own grief, but the grief of the young woman behind the desk, talking on the phone. She and the other two were picked up at Fisherman's Horizon later that day when Balamb Garden docked there. Almost straight away, the three of them went straight to the third floor. Along the way, the facial expressions of those that had survived were grim. The news of Seifer's death rocked the entire facililty and the aftermath of both campaigns had left the Garden's future in doubt.

"Yes Matron, we can be there by tomorrow evening," Quistis said. "Ok, I better go and inform the others. Bye."

She hung up the phone and looked up.

"We're to go to the orphanage first thing tomorrow morning," she announced. "Edea wants us the five of us there to give a proper goodbye to Seifer."

Everyone nodded.

"But, maybe I should stay behind," Nida said. "It should be the four of you."

Quistis nodded and looked around and sighed, eventually stopping at Zell.

"How many people did we lose?"

"The majority of the Galbadian and Balamb SeeD population," he replied. "Most of the instructors were killed in the battle. Galbadia has nothing left."

Quistis shook her head and looked down.

"I guess…I guess this is the end," she said and looked back up. "We have close Balamb Garden, for good."

There were gasps all around the room. It had come as a shock to them, they hadn't thought that Quistis of all people to close the only home that she ever had.

"But why?" Irvine asked. "We can rebuild."

"We could, but we no longer have the funds to do so. And now would be the worst possible time…we have lost."

She turned around and switched on the intercom.

"Everyone, I have an important announcement to make," she began. "Our population had been severely declined by more than half and a new crisis has now emerged. Unfortunately, we no longer have the firepower to fight back. Therefore, effective immediately, Balamb Garden is officially shut down."

She bit her lip, trying to hold the tears.

"So I suggest that each and every one of you will contact your families for as soon as we land in Balamb, you will be leaving the facility. Thank you."

She switched off the intercom and turned back around.

"Can you…can you all please give me some time alone."

They nodded and began to file out. Selphie, however, stopped and closed the door and locked it. She made her way back towards Quistis, who had her face buried in her hands.

"I can't believe he's gone," she said and the tears streamed down. "If only…if only I could have saved him…"

Selphie walked around and wrapped her arms around her.

"There was nothing that you could have done," Selphie said, letting Quistis cry silently into her shoulder. "Squall was…just too quick."

'Damn you Squall,' Selphie cursed in her head and continued to hold the blonde woman in her arms.

* * *

The waves were crashing against the rocks, letting off a thundering sound into the atmosphere. On the cliff above, a middle-aged woman stood as she peered down and watched on. The four young people behind her had their gazes up at the sky, blue sky peeping through the holes. Edea turned around and looked at them, at their faces. These were the faces of the broken, and it had broke her heart to see them like that. Three of her children weren't there. Two of them were dead and the other was the one who struck down Ultimecia's former knight.

She smiled weakly and looked up as well.

"He would have…liked the sky like this," she said. "Ever since he was a small child, Seifer would always try some way to find the sun amongst the heavy clouds."

Quistis looked at her and smiled. She does remember as a child that they would all do that after a rainy day, but the only person that wouldn't give up on finding it was Seifer. She was hoping too that he would be seeking the sunlight, despite his body still in that dark cave.

"But you know what," Quistis spoke, trying to break the silence that soon followed and everyone looked at her. Quistis looked back up at the sky. "I bet that Seifer is up there right now and staring right at the sun, at this very moment."

At the conclusion of her sentence, Quistis had noticed that the sun started to shine through the heavy, dark cloud. Somehow, she believed, that he was listening and was always going to be there.

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A/N: There we have it, two thirds of the trilogy completed and one more to go. I hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed writing it. For those who were rocked by Seifer's death, do not fear as this won't be the last we won't be hearing of him. He will be playing an even bigger part in my next story, but I'm not going to say in what way ;) Anyway, keep your eye out for the next one as I'm just about to go and start writing the first chapter and that should be posted up soon.

**Next Story**

**The Fallen Heroes: Based two months after the conclusion of "The Fallen Guardians". The SeeD's settle into their new lives, a former ally returns and battle between two fallen heroes and two people looking for revenge flares up. Who will survive, and who will perish?**


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